All Star and Showdown Race Review

May 18, 2013; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kurt Busch (78) and Kasey Kahne (5) race during the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

This time all the cars do come to pit to pit row but some teams gamble and only take two tyres so on the restart the top five is Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Biffle, Hamlin and Kyle Busch. The restart sees Hamlin push Kahne into the lead. While on the outside Ryan Newman gets an incredible burst of speed and comes all the way from 14th and gets into the side of the 88 who is in 6th and pushes Earnhardt Jr into the path of Kyle Busch, who has just recovered from taking a bump from Logano, but Kyle is able to take avoiding action and prevent a wreck. The 88 then has another coming together this time with Biffle and it is the 16 who comes off worse as he has to come to pit row. Before Biffle loses too many laps the yellow flags are out for the sixth time as debris is spotted on the track. The restart sees Kahne and Kurt Busch side by side for first place with Johnson keeping a watching brief in third. Kurt again shows that his car his strong all parts of the track as he hugs the inside line and is able to get just enough in front of Kahne that he can move up in front of him and take the lead; and that is how they stay at the end of the final segment as NASCAR now has to work out everyone’s average segment finish so that the order can be set for the final 10 laps.

A brief moment of controversy then erupts amongst fans as Fox shows a graphic that appears to suggest that Johnson’s average finish is outside the top 10 (11th to be exact) but yet he is pitting in fourth. However this graphic is wrong and Johnson’s average segment finish was 6.5 which puts him fourth, many pictures of the correct order have been circulated by NASCAR journalists and Fox has admitted that the graphic was wrong. Nonetheless the cars are re-arranged and the top five who will be at the head of the pack coming onto pit row for the four tyre mandatory stop are, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Kahne, Johnson and Bowyer. A great stop sees Kahne win the race off the pit row but an awful stop for Kurt Busch who’s crew take a second longer than his rivals sees him go from first to fifth. The top five for the final ten laps are: Kahne, Kyle, Johnson, Logano and Kurt.

At the restart Logano gives Kahne, on the high line, a push but it isn’t enough to get him clear out front as Johnson makes the bottom line work for him as he gets his nose in front. But Kahne isn’t going to let Johnson get in front of him and keeps on the 48’s right door, so much so that Johnson gets into the rear quarter of the 5, Kahne keeps his foot firmly planted to the floor and keeps alongside the 48. However Johnson is too strong on the bottom line and with 9 laps to go he is able to move up ahead of Kahne for the lead. A few laps later Kahne

May 18, 2013; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) celebrates in victory lane with wife Chandra Johnson after winning the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

loses second place to Logano and Kyle Busch but neither of them can close the gap on Johnson and he goes on to take his fourth All Star title as well as the $1 million cheque!

The addition of the average finish certainly made each section competitive, unlike last year, and I hope that NASCAR stick with that addition for next years race. There has been some complaints over the quality of racing and while it doesn’t matter if there was 10 laps or 50 laps I don’t think anyone was going to catch Johnson. But the gen6 car did allow passing and the battle for other positions certainly provided some entertainment. However the ease at which the lead cars were able to pull clear in such a short time could mean that if next weeks race, also at Charlotte, has few cautions the race might turn a bit stale. But for the requirements of the All Star the format worked perfectly and provided a great nights entertainment.