2008 Sprint All-Star Race
Encyclopedia
The Sprint Showdown and Sprint All-Star Race
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, formerly known as The Winston until 2004, then the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge from 2004 until 2007, is a race open to race winners from the previous season as well as the current season, plus the past ten event winners and past decade's Cup Series champions...

 XXIV were run on Saturday, May 17, 2008 at Lowe's Motor Speedway
Lowe's Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...

 in Concord, North Carolina
Concord, North Carolina
Concord is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. According to Census 2010, the city has a current population of 79,066. It is the largest city in Cabarrus County and is the county seat. In terms of population, the city of Concord is the second largest city in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area...

, a suburb outside of Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

. The events were telecast live at 7 PM US EDT
North American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...

 on Speed Channel
SPEED Channel
Speed , is a cable and satellite television network broadcast to various parts of North America, but primarily the United States...

 with radio broadcast on MRN Radio
Motor Racing Network
The Motor Racing Network is the principal radio broadcasting operation of NASCAR, promoting themselves as "The Voice of NASCAR." It broadcasts coverage of most major NASCAR races at the top three levels of NASCAR at tracks owned by International Speedway Corporation as well as Dover International...

 and Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...

 beginning at 6:15 PM US EDT.

The All-Star Race is an annual race that involves winners of the entire 2007 and 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season began on February 9, 2008 at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout, followed by pole qualifying on Sunday, February 10, 2008 for the 50th Daytona 500 on February 17...

 races (known as the NEXTEL Cup Series in 2007) through the Dodge Challenger 500
2008 Dodge Challenger 500
The 2008 Dodge Challenger 500, the eleventh race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, was held on Saturday, May 10th at the fabled Darlington Speedway in Darlington, South Carolina. This race was the 52nd edition of the Confederate Memorial Day race originally known as the Rebel 300...

, either as a driver or team owner, and also includes past championship drivers of the Winston/NEXTEL Cup series from 1998 through 2007, as well as winning drivers of Sprint All-Star Races XIV until XXIII, known through this period as either "The Winston" or the "NEXTEL All-Star Challenge".

Eligible 2008 Drivers

NOTE: Only the driver's first accomplishment is listed, as most of those drivers listed have attained more than one of the previously mentioned accomplishments to qualify. All former All-Star Race winners are referenced by the current use of the Roman Numeral designation. For example, Ryan Newman won All-Star Race XVIII, but he also won the 2008 Daytona 500
2008 Daytona 500
The 2008 Daytona 500 was the 50th annual running of "The Great American Race", the Daytona 500. The race took place on Sunday, February 17, 2008 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was the 50th to be run since the first in 1959, won by Lee Petty. To commemorate...

. Sprint Cup champions of the past ten years, winners of Sprint All-Star Races XIV through XXIII, and all race winners (driver and owner) from the 2007 Daytona 500 through the 2008 Dodge Challenger 500 have exemptions into the race, as will the top two finishing drivers in the Sprint Showdown as well as the fan vote winner from said Showdown.


The following drivers are eligible:
Car # Driver Entry Win/Championship
24 Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala. He is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is third on the all-time wins list, with 85 career wins, and has the...

Four-Time Series Champion, most recently 2001
2001 in NASCAR
The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup season began on February 11 at the Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 23 at the New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was crowned series champion for the fourth time in seven years. The season was marked by tragedy,...

44 Dale Jarrett
Dale Jarrett
Dale Arnold Jarrett is a former American race car driver and current sports commentator known for winning the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship...

+
1999 Championship
1999 in NASCAR
The 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Season began on Sunday February 7 and ended on Sunday November 21. Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett was crowned the champion...

43 Bobby Labonte
Bobby Labonte
Robert Alan "Bobby" Labonte is an American race car driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He currently drives the #47 Kroger/Clorox/Kimberly-Clark/Kingsford/Reese Towpower Hitches Toyota Camry for JTG Daugherty Racing. He currently resides in Trinity, North Carolina. He is married to his wife...

2000 Championship
2000 in NASCAR
The 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Season began on Sunday February 13 and ended on Sunday November 20. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte was crowned champion at season's end. The NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was won by Ford when they captured 14 wins and 234 points to better Pontiac's 11 wins...

20 Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart
Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart is an American auto racing driver and owner. Throughout his racing career, Stewart has won titles in Indy cars and stock cars as well as midget, sprint and USAC Silver Crown cars, giving him the recognition of "one of the finest racers of his generation."Stewart...

Two-Time Series Champion, most recently 2005
2005 in NASCAR
The 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series began on Saturday, February 12. The ten race Chase for the Nextel Cup started with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 18, and ended on Sunday, November 20, with the Ford 400....

17 Matt Kenseth
Matt Kenseth
Matthew Roy "Matt" Kenseth is an American stock car driver. Kenseth currently drives the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing...

2003 Championship
2003 in NASCAR
The 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup began on Saturday February 8 and ended on Sunday November 16. Matt Kenseth with Roush Racing driving a Ford was crowned the Winston Cup champion, despite winning only one race all year. Chevrolet took home the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship after capturing 19 wins...

2 Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch is an American NASCAR and NHRA driver. He drives the No. 22 Shell Oil Company/Pennzoil Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and will race on an "opportunity permitting" basis in the Pro Stock division of NHRA...

2004 Championship
2004 in NASCAR
The 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup season began on Saturday, February 7 and ended on Sunday, November 21. Kurt Busch with Roush Racing driving a Ford was the Nextel Cup champion....

48 Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car driver. He currently drives the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports....

Two-Time Defending Series Champion (2006
2006 in NASCAR
The 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season started at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 12 with the Bud Shootout and ended on Sunday, November 19 with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup began with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 17 at New Hampshire...

 and most recently 2007)
88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
* NOTE: References to "Earnhardt", "he", and "him" refer to the subject of this article, unless otherwise specified. References to his father will include "Sr."...

§
Sprint All-Star Race XVI
12 Ryan Newman
Ryan Newman
Ryan Joseph Newman is a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He drives the #39 United States Army/Tornados/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for Stewart Haas Racing under crew chief Tony Gibson. Newman graduated from Purdue University in 2001 with a B.S. in vehicle structure engineering...

Sprint All-Star Race XVIII
8 Mark Martin§ Sprint All-Star Race XXI
26 Jamie McMurray
Jamie McMurray
James Christopher "Jamie" McMurray is a professional American race car driver. McMurray is best known for winning the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 as a substitute driver in his second Winston Cup start, and is one of three drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year...

2007 Pepsi 400
2007 Pepsi 400
The 2007 Pepsi 400 was the 18th race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season and held on July 7, 2007, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida....

29 Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Michael Harvick is an American stock car auto racing race car driver and car owner currently competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Richard Childress Racing, driving the No. 29 Budweiser/Jimmy John's/Rheem/Okuma/Realtree Outdoors/Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet Impala...

2007 Daytona 500
2007 Daytona 500
The 2007 Daytona 500 was the first race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season, taking place on February 18, 2007 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Kevin Harvick won the race by .02 second over Mark Martin in the closest finish since the first race at Daytona...

18 Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch, is an American NASCAR driver and team owner. He currently drives the No. 18 Mars/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, the No. 18 Z-Line Designs/NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs in the Nationwide Series, and the No...

±
2007 Food City 500
2007 Food City 500
The Food City 500 was the fifth race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season, and was run on Sunday, March 25, 2007 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.- Overview :...

5 Casey Mears
Casey Mears
Casey James Mears is the driver of the #13 GEICO Toyota for Germain Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. He is a former winner of the Coca-Cola 600....

±
2007 Coca-Cola 600
2007 Coca-Cola 600
The 2007 edition of the Coca-Cola 600, the twelfth race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season was held on Sunday, May 27, 2007 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte...

31 Jeff Burton
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Brian "Jeff" Burton , also referred to as JB or The Mayor, is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver who drives the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet Impala for Richard Childress Racing. Burton is the younger brother of Ward Burton, who is a former Sprint Cup driver...

2007 Samsung 500
2007 Samsung 500
The 2007 Samsung 500, the seventh race of the 2007 Nextel Cup Series, was held on Sunday, April 15 of that year at the 1.5 mile Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Hendrick Motorsports would be shooting for its fifth consecutive win as a team. The last team to accomplish this feat was Petty...

1 Martin Truex, Jr. 2007 Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa
2007 Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa
The 2007 Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa was the thirteenth race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It was scheduled to be run on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, but was postponed due to rain as a result of the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry and...

99 Carl Edwards
Carl Edwards
Carl Michael Edwards, II is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #99 Fastenal/Aflac Ford Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series and the #60 Ford in the Nationwide Series for Roush Fenway Racing...

2007 Citizens Bank 400
2007 Citizens Bank 400
The 2007 Citizens Bank 400 was the 15th race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season. It was held on June 17, 2007 at Michigan International Speedway, located in the town of Brooklyn, Michigan, about 80 miles west of Detroit....

42 Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán is a Colombian race car driver known internationally for participating and winning in Formula One and CART race competitions. He has enjoyed great success. Currently, he competes in NASCAR, driving the #42 Target Chevrolet Impala for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint...

2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350
2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350
The 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was the 16th race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season. It took place on June 24, 2007, at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, about 25 miles north of San Francisco....

11 Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin
James Dennis Alan "Denny" Hamlin is an American race car driver. Though originally born in Tampa, Florida, Hamlin was raised for most of his life in Chesterfield, Virginia. After racing in go-karts for a number of years, he worked his way up to Late Models by 2004 and signed a development contract...

2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300
2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300
The 2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300 was the 17th race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season, held on July 1, 2007, at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire...

07 Clint Bowyer
Clint Bowyer
Clint Bowyer is a NASCAR driver. He drives the #15 5 Hour Energy Toyota Camry in the Sprint Cup Series for Michael Waltrip Racing. Early in his career, he drove for Richard Childress Racing. He won the 2008 Nationwide Series championship....

2007 Sylvania 300
2007 Sylvania 300
The 2007 Sylvania 300 was the 27th race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season and the first of the ten-race 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup championship series...

16 Greg Biffle
Greg Biffle
Gregory Jack "Greg" Biffle is a NASCAR driver who drives the #16 3M Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. After racing in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-90s, he was recommended to Jack Roush by former announcer Benny Parsons...

2007 LifeLock 400
2007 LifeLock 400
The 2007 LifeLock 400 is the 29th race in the 2007 NASCAR season and the third race of the ten in the 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup Championship Series. The event, held at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, was run on September 30, 2007....



+ — Dale Jarrett is retiring after the 2008 Food City 500
2008 Food City 500
The 2008 Food City 500 was the fifth race of the 2008 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season, and it was held on Sunday, March 16, 2008 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This race aired on Fox starting at 1:30 PM US EDT with radio coverage handled by Performance Racing Network and Sirius Satellite...

 marking his final driving appearance.

§ — Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is eligible as a past All-Star Race winner as a driver, while the #8 team is also eligible as Mark Martin, a past All-Star Race winner, is scheduled to drive in this race.

± — Kyle Busch and Casey Mears are eligible as both won races in 2007 for different teams. Kyle Busch won the 2007 Food City 500 as the driver of the #5 team, while Mears won the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 with the #25 team (now the #88 team). Kyle Busch's #18 team won the 2008 Kobalt Tools 500
2008 Kobalt Tools 500
The 2008 Kobalt Tools 500 was the fourth race in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and was held on March 9, 2008 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, located outside the Georgia state capital...

 and 2008 Aaron's 499
2008 Aaron's 499
The 2008 Aaron's 499 was the ninth race in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule and was raced on April 27th, 2008 at Talladega Superspeedway two miles east of Lincoln in Talladega County, Alabama...

 and is eligible for the 2009 race as well.

Sprint All-Star Race XXIII Champion
2007 NEXTEL All-Star Challenge
The 2007 NEXTEL Open and NEXTEL All-Star Challenge was held on Saturday, May 19, 2007 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte...

.

Sprint Showdown

The teams that have not qualified for the All-Star Race were in a 40-lap race divided into two "halves" (two 20-lap segments) with a five-lap break to allow for teams to have the option to make a pit stop. The top two drivers from this race, along with a fan ballot that selected the third (from the internet, Sprint cellular phone subscribers, Sprint retail locations, and on-site fan voting up to that night) among those on the lead lap and in the Top 50 in driver points will qualify for the main event. The cell phone votes counted double those of the other methods. Qualifying was the standard NASCAR two-lap event, with the fastest lap counting, and Elliott Sadler
Elliott Sadler
Elliott William Barnes Sadler is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Nationwide Series. He is one of only 23 drivers to have won in each of NASCAR's top three series...

 winning said pole. However, during the first segment, Sadler was knocked out of the race when A.J. Allmendinger bumped him high into the Turn Two wall, and Allmendinger and Sam Hornish, Jr.
Sam Hornish, Jr.
Racing League]] championships. He currently drives the #12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger for Penske Racing part-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He also drives the #38 Front Row Motorsports Ford when Travis Kvapil is unable to drive the car....

 automatically qualified, while Kasey Kahne
Kasey Kahne
Kasey Kenneth Kahne is a NASCAR driver. He drives the #5 Farmers Insurance Group Chevrolet Impala for Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series....

 won the fan vote.

Sprint All-Star Race XXIV

The race format of four "quarters" (like football or professional basketball) was slightly modified this season. In Sprint All-Star Race XXIII, the quarters were each 20 laps. This year, as announced at NASCAR's Media Tour, five laps were added to each segment to have a total of 100 laps (or four 25-lap quarters) in the race. The remainder of the race format, adopted last year, was unchanged. The qualifying for this race is a three-lap cumulative timed event with a mandatory four-tire pit stop arriving at the pit road speed of 45 MPH but leaving as full throttle after either the first or second qualifying lap. Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch, is an American NASCAR driver and team owner. He currently drives the No. 18 Mars/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, the No. 18 Z-Line Designs/NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs in the Nationwide Series, and the No...

 took advantage of numerous miscues by others (including penalties for speed violations or loose lug nuts) to win the pole position. Kahne became the first to qualify from the fan vote to win, only taking a splash of gas to dominate the final quarter which, along with the rest of the race, went caution free.

Other events

  • The traditional skills challenge for the pit crews, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pit Crew Challenge presented by Craftsman
    Craftsman (tools)
    Craftsman is a line of tools and lawn and garden equipment controlled by Sears Holdings Corporation; the brand is owned by KCD IP, LLC, a special purpose entity created by Sears Holdings for securitization purposes....

    , was held on Thursday night, May 15 at Time Warner Cable Arena. This annual skills challenge again awarded prizes to top teams and individuals for the best demonstration of pit stop
    Pit stop
    In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...

     skills, including the main competition, a single-elimination tournament. The Team Red Bull
    Team Red Bull
    Red Bull Racing Team, also known as Team Red Bull, is a NASCAR team owned by Dietrich Mateschitz. The team is based in Mooresville, North Carolina in the United States and is managed by Jay Frye...

     crew of Brian Vickers
    Brian Vickers
    Brian Lee Vickers is a American NASCAR driver. He was the 2003 Busch Series champion, and at age 20, became the youngest champion in any of NASCAR's three top-tier series...

    ' #83 car won the event; however, since they had not won a race in the period prior to the All-Star main event, Joe Gibbs Racing
    Joe Gibbs Racing
    Joe Gibbs Racing is a group of NASCAR racing teams owned and operated by former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991, and J. D. Gibbs, his son...

    's #11 Denny Hamlin
    Denny Hamlin
    James Dennis Alan "Denny" Hamlin is an American race car driver. Though originally born in Tampa, Florida, Hamlin was raised for most of his life in Chesterfield, Virginia. After racing in go-karts for a number of years, he worked his way up to Late Models by 2004 and signed a development contract...

     team got the first pick of the pit box to use on pit road for the All-Star Race as they were the runner-up and had won a race. Vickers failed to even make the main event, finishing fourth in the Showdown.
  • A new skills challenge took place just before the green flag of the Sprint Showdown. In the Pennzoil
    Pennzoil
    Pennzoil is an American oil company founded in Los Angeles, California in 1913. In 1955, it was acquired by Oil City, Pennsylvania company South Penn Oil, a former branch of Standard Oil. In 1963, South Penn Oil merged with Zapata Petroleum; the merged company took the Pennzoil name. During the...

     Victory Challenge, five drivers simulated a burnout as if they had just won a race. The winner was determined by the fastest time traveling from the start-finish line to victory lane, deducting penalties. Drivers were in identically prepared cars supplied by the Richard Petty Driving Experience. Greg Biffle
    Greg Biffle
    Gregory Jack "Greg" Biffle is a NASCAR driver who drives the #16 3M Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. After racing in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-90s, he was recommended to Jack Roush by former announcer Benny Parsons...

    won $10,000, to be donated to his self-named foundation charity. The event lineup also included Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch.
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