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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
JENSEN: All-Star Week Is Here
The next six days will be among the best in NASCAR all year, as it’s almost time for the 25th running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted May 11, 2009   Charlotte, NC
SPEED.com's Editor-in-Chief Tom Jensen. (Image: SPEED)

Party time.

The next six days will be among the best in NASCAR all year, as it’s almost time for the 25th running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. SPEED will televise the event live on May 16, starting at 7 p.m.

All week long, SPEED will celebrate All-Star week with a number of special television programs dedicated to the event, as well as coverage of the Sprint Pit Crew Challenge Thursday at 9 p.m. On Friday, we’ll be all over Lowe’s Motor Speedway, covering practice and qualifying for the All-Star Race starting at noon, as well as NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice and qualifying, with the North Carolina Lottery 200 rolling off at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday night, of course, is the big show, and we’ll dedicate the entire day to the All-Star race, which is always one of the best and most entertaining events in NASCAR. No points, no worrying about top fives of top 10s, no holding back. Just $1 million to win, and no one cares or remembers who finishes second. There’s a reason folks use the phrase “checkers or wreckers” to describe the Sprint All-Star Race. If you can’t get excited on Saturday night, check your pulse to make sure you’re alive.

And this year, there are a couple of additional reasons to be amped up about the action at Lowe’s Motor Speedway:

• First of all, the fact that the race will conclude with a 10-lap shootout instead of a 20- or 25-lap final stint is huge. In the history of the All-Star Race, almost without exception, the most dramatic finishes have come in the shorter shootouts, which don’t allow the field to get as spread out as it tends to in longer races.

• The resurgence of Mark Martin will also had some drama. Martin, a two-time All-Star winner, absolutely loves Lowe’s Motor Speedway and he comes in on a roll, having just won on Saturday night at Darlington Raceway and a few weeks before that at Phoenix. Martin is having the time of his life, is in a great car and is ready to win again.

• The mercurial Kyle Busch, who stands a great chance to either win or flame out spectacularly trying. Remember the last two All-Star races? Busch and big brother Kurt wrecked each other racing for the victory in 2007 and last year Kyle had a big lead when the trick motor in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota let go. No top five for the Shrub — either he wins or he’s a DNF.


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