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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
ALL-STAR: Kurt Busch Winner At Charlotte
Kurt Busch won the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted May 22, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Kurt Busch celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
Kurt Busch rebounded from two meetings with the outside wall to surge to the front in the final segment and win a wild Sprint All-Star Race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

LINK>Unofficial Race Results: Sprint All- Star Race - CHARLOTTE

Ironically, Busch got a boost toward the win because of misfortune that visited his younger brother, Kyle, during the frantic final 10-lap segment. While racing teammate Denny Hamlin for the lead, Busch saw his outside charge toward the front blocked by Hamlin, and Busch slammed into the outside wall.

Seconds later, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson ran side by side as they passed Kyle Busch’s slowing car and Hamlin, and Busch swept in front of Johnson to take the lead for good.

It’s an understatement to say that Kyle Busch was upset by the incident. He threatened Hamlin while talking to team members over the team radio seconds after he brushed the wall.

Busch drove his banged-up race car to the rear of Hamlin’s transporter in the garage area, jumped out of the car and dashed into the back of Hamlin’s hauler.

After the race, Hamlin was told by team members to stay away from Busch.

After making the pass to the front, Kurt Busch built onto the lead and appeared ready to set sail without challenge.

With three laps to go, Johnson was racing Hamlin for second when he lost control and slid onto the grass separating the racing surface from pit road.

That brought out the caution, and the field took the green with two laps to go. Joey Logano was second, Hamlin third and Martin Truex Jr. fourth.

No one could challenge Kurt Busch over the final three miles, and he outran Truex Jr. by .358 of a second for the million-dollar prize. Truex Jr. got in the All-Star event by winning the preliminary Sprint Showdown.

The win was the first in the All-Star event for Busch.

“Man, this car was a rocket ship at the end,” he said.

Kurt Busch led the opening 50-lap segment of the race, but a later two-tire change cut into the performance of his Dodge. He brushed the wall twice, and his team made numerous changes during the 10-minute break between the third and final segments.

“We made big adjustments during the 10-minute break for Kurt to be that fast at the beginning of the run,” crew chief Steve Addington said. “We changed a good bit, made shock adjustments, made bumpstop adjustments. Kurt was pretty frustrated about losing the handle on the race track. We made some changes back in the direction that we were in in practice, and the car came alive.”

Busch said his game plan was to “make big, bold moves. I saw some paint and sparks pop up [during the Hamlin-Kyle Busch incident], and it hurt their momentum. Then I was able to clear Johnson.”

Johnson shot to the front of the field in the second of four segments and appeared to be on his way to a third win in the event.
Trouble erupts during the 2010 Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

The race’s final 10-lap segment began with a touch of chaos. A few seconds after the field took the green flag, the end of the frontstretch and the first turn were littered with damaged race cars after close-quarters racing sent Mark Martin into a slide in the middle of traffic. David Reutimann slammed into the side of Martin’s car, and the resulting chain reaction sent cars flying left and right.

Also involved in the crash were Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray and Tony Stewart.

Prior to the start of the final 10-lap dash, teams were required to make a four-tire pit stop, and drivers started the final 10-lap segment in the order in which they left pit road after the stop. Hamlin’s team produced the fastest stop, followed by the crews of Kyle Busch, Johnson, Martin and Logano.

Kurt Busch took the lead from Kyle with two laps to go in the first segment – a 50-lapper – and led at the end of the run.

LINK>Unofficial Race Results: Sprint All- Star Race - CHARLOTTE

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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