2007 Nextel All-Star Race

Screenshot time!


Mike Bliss leads the field to the green flag.


The leaders race aggressively early on.


Jason Leffler scrapes the wall early in the race.


Rookie Jon Wood hurt the aerodynamics of his machine with this slap against the turn 4 barrier.


Haas CNC Racing teammates work together to pass J.J. Yeley.


Kenny Wallace and Aric Almirola speed down the frontstretch.


A gaggle of cars battle for position entering turn 1.


Ward Burton and J.J. Yeley hold off Kyle Busch to advance to the 2007 Nextel All-Star Race.

Nextel All-Star Race
25 drivers. A million bucks on the line. Oh yeah, there's no points in this race either. That's the Nextel All-Star Race. 80 laps of pure racing, with no need for fuel strategy or any points racing. All of that stuff? Out the window in this race.

With the single goal of winning a million dollars, people can do crazy things. That was certainly evident in the 2007 edition of the All-Star race, an exhibition race pitting the 25 best drivers in NASCAR against one another at Lowe's Motor Speedway, right in the center of the NASCAR world. After a dramatic qualifying event in which the Nextel Open saw Ward Burton pull off an upset victory and earn a spot in the big show along with J.J. Yeley, fans learned that rookie Aric Almirola won the Fan Vote qualification, finally sealing the field for the race.

Yeley's teammate, Bobby Labonte, started from the pole, but never led a lap. The chaotic event started off with a bang when Labonte spun his tires, stacking up the inside line. That left drivers near the end of the field discombobulated, and order was never restored. Fresh off his big win, Ward Burton tangled with 1999 All-Star Race winner Terry Labonte, triggering a caution flag before the end of the first lap. Both drivers would continue with minor damage, while Jimmie Johnson took control of the race.

Johnson had pulled in front of Labonte when the #18 spun his tires, and held the lead through the caution flag and the lap 6 restart. However, Roush Racing's Carl Edwards quickly worked his way to the front from his 4th place starting spot, and took the top spot on lap 9. The two drivers continually swapped the lead during the first segment, when Johnson took command on lap 11 only to lose it 5 laps later. Edwards would then hold off the #48 until the lap 21 caution signaling the end of the first segment.

For the restart and the beginning of the second segment, Edwards maintained his lead through pit stops. After jumping out to a quick lead, the third caution flag flew, as fans saw a much more significant melee unfold. The wild and aggressive racing present throughout the early portion of the race finally bit several drivers in the rear end, as Travis Kvapil and Jeff Burton made contact to trigger a 10 car pileup in turns 3 and 4. 4 drivers were eliminated from the pileup, including both Ward Burton and Terry Labonte, victims of the lap 1 spin.

Edwards by this point, however, had proven that he was the class of the field. After the lap 33 green flag, Edwards jumped out to a commanding 3 second lead over everyone else when the yellow flag on lap 41 marked the end of the second segment. While Edwards lost the lead under pit stops to Casey Mears (who took just 2 tires), it wasn't long for the 99 to once again show his dominance. Mears led at the lap 56 restart but would surrender it to Edwards before exiting turn 2. Edwards would then dominate the third segment, until catastrophe struck.

Working his way up through the field and dodging wrecks for much of the event had been Kurt Busch. Despite a win at Las Vegas earlier this season, the 2004 Champ had been suffering through a miserable season and was struggling his way to a 24th place position in the points. Eager to gain some much-needed confidence for his #33 team, Busch sliced and diced his way through the pack and finally cleared his way to 2nd place. Once in cleaner air, Busch became the first driver since Johnson's initial surges to catch Edwards. However, Busch would never get by the #99. Coming to the end of the final lap of the 3rd segment and desperate to be able to be the first driver down pit road for the last pit stop of the race, Busch nudged the front fender of his car underneath Edwards' left rear corner - except there wasn't any room to do so.

The two drivers hooked, fans saw a puff of smoke, and Edwards and Busch skidded onto the apron and then back up the track into the wall. Edwards' dominant run was wasted, as he pancaked the right side of his car against the turn 4 SAFER barrier. Luckily, he smacked the wall flat enough so that his team repaired his car and he salvaged a top 10 finish. Busch, however, did not his the wall flat-on, and bounced off of it and was left skidding sideways in the middle of the track. The first 5 or 6 cars escaped through the cloud of smoke without incident, but soon, J.J. Yeley made his way out of turn 4. In such a high-stakes race, drivers couldn't afford to risk losing a spot by slowing down to avoid the wreck. This proved costly, as Yeley simply obliterated the door of Busch's #33 and sent the RCR Chevy flipping and pinwheeling across the frontstretch infield in front of a massive, lively crowd. That lively crowd was hushed even after Busch's #33 came to a rest on its wheels, but roared when the driver popped out of his car and jogged to the ambulance under his own power, giving a thumbs up to NASCAR Nation.

Race officials chose to use that caution as the end of segment three, and the stage was set for an unpredictable 4th segment. With the dominant car of the event crippled, nobody knew what was coming next. Busch's teammate, Kevin Harvick, was able to grab the lead for the restart with 16 laps to go, but didn't last long. Edwards' teammate, Matt Kenseth was the driver to usurp his command on lap 67, but would soon relinquish the top spot to Ryan Newman. Newman and Kenseth would then hold the top 2 spots in steady formation, with Kenseth doggedly pursuing the 2002 All-Star Race winner. Unfortunately, Kenseth appeared to use up his stuff too soon. With 3 laps to go, 3rd place driver Jeremy Mayfield caught the #17, as Newman grinned at what he saw in his mirror. With the drivers behind him battling for the prime real estate on the inside lane, Newman was able to cruise to his 2nd career All-Star Race victory as Kenseth faltered to 5th.

Results:

Sorry to disappoint you bud....you were part of the 10 car crash. You'll see the 22 right before it piles in when I post the screenshots.

Jack Roush post-race quote: "Do you think I'm pissed right now? Cuz I am. My team and my employees have been busting their asses all week long to give each one of our drivers the best equipment we can provide them with, and we end up giving Carl the best car Roush Racing has ever made. That thing was a goddam rocket ship. And what happens? We get flat out wrecked for no reason in the middle of the turn. People think Kurt went to Richard's team and made his own decision. I've got news for you folks. I didn't want Kurt. I told him to get out. Ya know why? Cuz he's an arrogant sonuvabitch that runs everyone over who he thinks is in his way and he decided to run over Carl tonight for no goddam reason and cost him the win. I guarantee y'all that Carl would've won it if he hadn't been dumped like that. Un-freakin-believable."

Matt Kenseth post-race quote: "Wow, that was a fun race. I think it was really big for our team and our confidence, too. The last few weeks have been horrible for us especially knowing we've had the speed. It's been mistakes on my end for the most part that have really cost us, and I take full responsibility for those. But tonight was a game-changer for us, we were right up there battling for the win right at the end. I screwed up, surprise surprise, and wore out the tires really quick on that final run and the 88 caught us and I had no choice but to let him by and it slowed up my momentum enough that we lost all those spots, but at the end of the day nobody really cares whether you finish 2nd or 5th. All that matters is the win, but in the big picture, tonight was a really good night for us."

Greg Biffle post-race quote: "Man, that was a wild race. I'm really glad to bring this thing home in one piece, we decided after the happy hour session that we were gonna run it in the 600 next week so having a clean race was the goal. Obviously we're going for the win, so I hope none of you get the wrong idea. We just didn't quite have the speed we needed to get up to the front plus we got jammed back in traffic for a couple restarts. We could've done a lot better on pit road but I also could've done better navigating traffic. 7th is alright but we definitely have a top 5 car for next week so I'm pretty happy."

Carl Edwards post-race quote: "You know, this race is supposed to be fun. Yeah, there's a million bucks on the line but this is supposed to be about putting on a show for the fans, and I don't think the fans wanted to see what happened tonight. As a fan of the sport, I know that I would have wanted to see me and Kurt battle it out hard but cleanly. The minute he caught me he just wrecked me. It's really uncalled for. Overall the race was an exciting one, but I think all the controversy this is going to bring is just not necessary and was completely, 100% avoidable. All I can say is that what goes around, comes around."

Todd Kluever post-race quote: "I still am caught up on the fact I'm in the All-Star race after having such a bad season so far *laughs*. But tonight was a little bit disappointing. All you have to do is look at the running order and see where my teammates are. That's where I think we need to be and where we could be if things go right. We did get caught up in that big crash but even before then we weren't running all that well. Still, tonight was pretty fun. I just wish we hadn't gotten wrecked so I could've finished the race without any scratches on the car."

More screenshots! (as if this thread didn't take long enough to load already haha)


2000 Champ Bobby Labonte leads the field to the green flag.


Terry Labonte and Nextel Open Winner Ward Burton loop their cars on the backstretch of the opening lap.


A large group of cars crash exiting turn 4, eliminating 4 drivers from contention.


Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch hook fenders while battling for the lead.


Kurt Busch barrel-rolls in the infield grass after being struck by J.J. Yeley.


Kurt Busch pirouettes on his nose while J.J. Yeley slams the SAFER Barrier.


Ryan Newman cruises to victory to earn a million dollars in the 2007 All-Star Race.