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ALL-STAR: With One To Go, Who Will Step Up?
SPEED on-air personalities weigh in on the most likely driver to become the next first-time winner...
Megan Englehart  |  Posted May 12, 2011   Charlotte, NC
SPEED™ is the exclusive television home for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race from Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., with live race coverage beginning May 21 at 7 p.m. ET.
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WHO WILL STEP UP WITH ONE RACE TO GO?

SPEED™ ON-AIR PERSONALITIES EXPLORE LIKELIEST TO SEIZE REMAINING SPOTS IN MAY 21 NASCAR SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE

If you had gone with conventional wisdom and predicted a veteran would win the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ two biggest races of the year, you would have been dead wrong. If you instead had played the long odds in favor of two single-car teams and relatively unknown drivers taking the checkered flag, you’d be sitting on a pile of cash.

One Cup driver will be sitting on his own pile of cash - $1 million to be exact - for winning the May 21 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (live on SPEED at 7 p.m. ET).

Will the lucky guy be one of 19 drivers already locked into the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, will he emerge from the first and second-place finishers in the Sprint Showdown or the Sprint Fan Vote, or will he race his way to a shot at the massive payday with a victory this weekend in Dover?

After Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith set the bar high for Cup drivers without that first victory and qualified themselves for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race by winning at Daytona and Darlington, respectively, SPEED on-air personalities weigh in on the most likely driver to become the next first-time winner, as well as the one most capable of racing his way in from the Sprint Showdown:

On the most likely candidate to be the next first-time winner in the Cup Series:

“Nobody works harder or is tougher on himself than AJ Allmendinger. Both AJ and Marcos Ambrose have had some big runs this year and good things are happening at Richard Petty Motorsports. AJ is quick to point out that they are not setting the world on fire, but they are doing what they need to do to keep themselves in the game. AJ’s goal is to be in Chase contention by the time the All-Star Race rolls around. He’s 11th in points and right where he wants to be. Next stop? Victory Lane.”
--Krista Voda, co-host of SPEED coverage of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

“My feeling on who the next first-time winner will be has changed periodically. At the end of last year, I thought AJ Allmendinger would be the next cat to break out and do it. With the way this season year got started, I thought Paul Menard might be the next guy. But evaluating them at this moment, I think David Ragan is the prime suspect because he’s been running well and is fast. Roush Fenway has been performing this year as a whole. I think Ragan probably thought he was a bit of a sacrificial lamb last year, driving his guys out and thinking his head was on the chopping block. But if he keeps running this way, he might not have anything to worry about.”
--Larry McReynolds, SPEED analyst for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

“Given the way he has run lately and how fast his cars have been, I think we’ll be celebrating David Ragan in Victory Lane very soon. His organization is strong and his performance has picked up this year.”
--Darrell Waltrip, NASCAR on FOX and SPEED analyst

“AJ Allmendinger could very well claim his first win at Dover because he led 143 laps there in last fall’s race. He has a short history at Dover but a good one of qualifying and racing competitively. I’ve also been impressed by David Ragan’s improvement, but AJ stands out to me as having put himself closer and closer to Victory Lane, and one day soon right in the middle of it.”
--Steve Byrnes, host of NASCAR Race Hub and pit reporter for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

On the most likely driver to race his way into the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race by finishing first or second in the Sprint Showdown:

Krista Voda is the host of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup. (Image: SPEED)
“I think we’ll see Jeff Burton advance from the Sprint Showdown to the big race. Burton is hungry. He's also extremely honest when it comes to All-Star inclusion, stating that racing in that event has to be earned. He’s ready to earn his ticket.”
--Krista Voda, co-host of SPEED coverage of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

“There’s a bunch of guys who could fit that bill. First and foremost, I’d say David Ragan. But you’d also expect Jeff Burton to have a good car at Charlotte because he has in the past, as has Brian Vickers. Dale Jr. could be sitting pretty because Hendrick Motorsports always puts everything into their Charlotte cars. AJ Allmendinger also has a legitimate shot at racing his way into the All-Star Race because he’s got good equipment and has been fast.”
--Darrell Waltrip, NASCAR on FOX and SPEED analyst

“My money is on Joey Logano or Paul Menard but if I had to pick the winner of the Showdown, it would be Logano. I think that team is much better than they’ve shown. They’ve had a lot of bad luck, but when you look at how well teammate Kyle Busch is running and the fact Denny Hamlin seems to be righting that ship, the advantage goes to Logano to race his way in.”
--Steve Byrnes, host of NASCAR Race Hub and pit reporter for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

“Well, you can take Dale Earnhardt, Jr., out of that equation because we almost know with certainty that unless he wins at Dover, he is assured of the Sprint Fan Vote as his ticket into the big race, although he is running well enough to race his way in. So, I think David Ragan or Paul Menard could race their way in. Menard’s season thus far has been a bit of a mirror of 2010. He came out of the box so strong and we all figured he was on his way to Victory Lane. But then the performance started to drop off almost in the same manner it did last year. I think Menard still is solid but his team seems to run out of steam too quickly.”
--Larry McReynolds, SPEED analyst for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

For more information on SPEED’s exclusive coverage of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race or the chance to win $10,000, please visit http://www.speedtv.com/allstar or the SPEED Facebook page.

About SPEED™
SPEED, anchored by its popular and wide-ranging coverage of NASCAR, is the nation’s first and only cable television network dedicated to automotive and motorcycle racing, performance and lifestyle. Now available in more than 82 million homes in North America, SPEED, a member of the FOX Sports Media Group, is among the industry leaders in interactive TV, video on demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services. For more information, please visit SPEED.com, the online motor sports authority.

About FOX Sports Media Group
FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) is the umbrella entity representing News Corporation’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets under Chairman & CEO David Hill. Built with brands that are capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, FSMG includes ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing partnerships. FSMG now includes FOX Sports, the sports television arm of the FOX Broadcasting Company; Fox’s 19 regional sports networks, their affiliated regional web sites and FSN national programming; SPEED and SPEED2; Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Soccer Plus; FUEL TV; and Fox College Sports. In addition, FSMG also includes FOX Sports Interactive Media, which comprises FOXSports.com on MSN, whatifsports.com and scout.com, reaching over 20 million unique visitors monthly. Also included are Fox’s interests in joint-venture businesses FOX Deportes, Big Ten Network and STATS, LLC, as well as licensing agreements that establish the FOX Sports Radio Network, FOX Sports Skybox restaurants and FOX Sports Grills.

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