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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
SPENCER: Full Moon Over All-Star
Get ready for a spectacular and unpredictable show Saturday night on SPEED at Lowe’s Motor Speedway...
Jimmy Spencer  |  Posted May 14, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)
No points at stake... $1 million up for grabs... a bunch of hungry drivers and some gambling crew chiefs...

Get ready for a spectacular and unpredictable show Saturday night on SPEED at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. I have loved the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race since I drove all the way to Charlotte from Pennsylvania to watch the first one in 1985 and it’s been a special memory of mine the past 25 years.
Jimmy Spencer co-hosts NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane. (Image: SPEED)

I can’t really point to one favorite All-Star memory because they are so numerous and varied: Dale Earnhardt’s 1987 infamous “pass in the grass” to hold off Bill Elliott; the 1992 crash between Davey Allison and Kyle Petty at the finish line in the first race under the lights at Lowe’s Motor Speedway; Jeff Gordon running out of gas after crew chief Ray Evernham gambled to save weight in the car; Kasey Kahne getting in on the Sprint Fan Vote last year and then winning the race; the 1989 “Tide Slide,” when Rusty Wallace spun out Darrell Waltrip for the win; and Jeff Gordon coming from the back in a backup car after he and several other drivers wrecked their primary cars in the rain in 2001 (NASCAR surprisingly allowed them to pull out the backups during the rain delay).

In addition to the thrilling racing and unbelievable finishes, what makes the Sprint Showdown (qualifying event for All-Star) and the All-Star Race so special is you never know what to expect because each edition differs vastly from the last. Fans are virtually guaranteed to see something entirely different from year to year.

But the one thing that never changes is the high-risk gambling taking place up and down pit road and on the race track. With no points on the line, teams and drivers aren’t worried about jeopardizing their Cup championship and are willing to take a lot of risks. Many of them will do whatever it takes for a shot at the win and $1 million. Until you crash the race car, what does it really matter? And even then, that’s a chance many are willing to take. I oftentimes think the Sprint Showdown is an even better show than the All-Star Race because the “Showdowners” realize they have no prayer of competing for the $1 million and bragging rights unless they race or wreck their way in via the qualifier.

Not only are the drivers more apt to put their cars in positions and situations they normally wouldn’t, teams and crew chiefs are likely to step out on a limb in the All-Star Race. As I mentioned before, Evernham elected not to put fuel in Gordon’s car one year, whereas he definitely would have done so in a points race. The engine builders push it, as well, as evidenced by the motor Kyle Busch had last year in the All-Star Race. Kyle was the class of the field and was destined to win the race until the motor broke because the engine department was trying to stretch a couple of extra horsepower out of it. It is gambles like this that continue to breed excitement into the All-Star Race after 25 years.

The final 10-lap shootout always generated enthusiasm during its existence and luckily they’re bringing it back this year. I’m expecting this short segment to pay dividends as it did in years past and pretty much guarantee all hell breaks when the checkered flag is in sight.

We used to see double-file restarts with guys trying to jump the starts. I remember Earnhardt pinched Mark Martin down on the last restart one year and went on to beat him. Mark probably should have squeezed him up a bit more but Earnhardt wasn’t going to give up that win for anything. He reached deep down side and found a little something extra, and that’s what drivers have to do in that race. They need something to get them through all those crazy restarts and insane moves their fellow competitors will be putting on them. Every driver who has won the All-Star Race has dug deep and gone in with the mental attitude that he is going to win no matter what and no matter how, which pretty much sums up what we’ll see Saturday night with everyone driving like a bat out of hell.

In short, it’s checkers or wreckers.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it as an analyst on NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED. He retired from driving with two NASCAR Sprint Cup, 12 NASCAR Nationwide and one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory, putting him in an elite group of drivers who have logged wins in all three of NASCAR’s premier divisions. In 478 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, Spencer amassed 28 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. He won back-to-back NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships in 1986 and 1987 on the heels of 15 victories, becoming the first driver ever to earn consecutive titles in the series. He earned the nickname “Mr. Excitement” for his flamboyant and aggressive driving style early in his racing career.
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