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ALL-STAR: Final Spots To Be Filled
Fan vote will determine on berth in 2011 Sprint NASCAR All-Star Race...
Jim Pedley  | http://www.RacinToday.com  |  Posted May 16, 2011   Charlotte, NC
Dale Earnhardt Jr. could be voted in to the 2011 Sprint All-Star Race by the fans. (Photo: Getty Images)
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With the hours counting down until the start of the 2011 Sprint NASCAR All-Star Race, four berths in the field remain to be filled. Super dramatically, two of the final four spots will be determined not by championships or victories.

The first will be determined by fans, who will be exercising their NASCAR-given right to select an entrant through the magic of the internet.

The second will be determined by doctors. Specifically, Trevor Bayne's doctors.

Bayne earned the right to drive in the All-Star show when he became this year’s wildly popular winner of the Daytona 500.

But Bayne, 20, fell ill several weeks ago. Mysteriously ill. He was hospitalized.

Two weeks ago, he was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for symptoms which were originally believed to be caused by an insect bite. The symptoms included blurred vision.

Bayne was released from the Mayo Clinic last week. The hope was that he would drive at Dover over the weekend.

But, as a precaution, he was pulled from his Nationwide ride. His NNS-team owner, Jack Roush, said at Dover that he expected Bayne would be ready to roll in the All-Star Race. But, Roush said, he would defer to medical personnel on that decision.

Bayne plans to test a car this week at a short track in Georgia.

If Bayne does race in the All-Star Race, he will be in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford in which he won the 500.

Then there is the fan vote. Most sane observers expect that vote will put Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the race. But, strange things happen in elections. Especially the kind held on the internet.

Sprint officials said last Friday that a record number of votes have been recorded so far. They said in a press release, “Since voting began on March 23, more than 1 million votes have been submitted using the NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile application on compatible Sprint devices, which has helped push the total number of votes cast to more than 1.5 million. This shatters the previous record of 1.5 million votes set last year. Voting continues until 5 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, May 2.”

Vote totals specific to drivers were not revealed. What was revealed was the top 10 in voting. In alphabetical order, they are: AJ Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Paul Menard, David Ragan and Brian Vickers.

So Earnhardt’s inclusion in the race may not be known until just before the event starts. Unless, that is, he places first or second in the All-Star Showdown qualifying event which precedes the All-Star Race.

Currently, and counting Bayne, there are 17 drivers locked into the 2011 night of stars.

The latest to earn a spot was Regan Smith, who was the surprise winner in the Southern 500 at Darlington a week and a bit ago.

While Earnhardt Jr. has been kind of blase about his All-Star status, Smith has not been.
Trevor Bayne hopes to return to NASCAR racing for the All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Asked about the honor at Dover last Friday, he said, “Oh, it feels great. It was one of the first comments I made on the radio was ‘hey, we’re in the All-Star race now, guys!’ And certainly that’s something that every driver in this garage thinks about. I know sometimes everybody says, ‘ah well, it is what it is and we’ll see how it all goes down or whatever.’ But for me, that’s a thrill to be in that race.

“I’d say the past three years I’ve been on my couch sitting and watching it in time for the start of the race and it’s been absolutely miserable. You watch your fellow competitors out there and there’s 22 or 23 of them on average I’d say, that the gloves come off and they get to race and not worry about things. So I’m excited about running that race.”

The other 16 drivers locked into the field are Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, David Reutimann, Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.

The All-Star Race will be broadcast live on SPEED.

Jim Pedley is a veteran, award-winning sports journalist who has worked at, among other places, the Boston Globe, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Kansas City Star. Pedley can be reached at jpedley@racintoday.com

ALL-STAR Watch Presented By Lowe's - Let's Build Something Together
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