FanHouse

Fans Help Kahne Earn All-Star Cool Million



On a night that dominant cars couldn't finish what they started, Kasey Kahne utilized his fans to help him find victory lane.

Kahne, who had not previously been made eligible for Saturday-night's Sprint All-Star Race XXIV, won the fan vote to be included in the main event race, and made the most the of it by winning his first career All-Star event. In doing so, Kahne guaranteed himself a spot in the race for the next ten years and a cool million bucks.


The race -- split up into four 25 lap quarters that offered only money and pride and no championship points -- saw no caution flags due to accidents. In fact, the biggest story wasn't the crashes, but rather the inability for drivers who looked like clear favorites to wrap up one of NASCAR's richest nights.

First, Kyle Busch led the event's first 38 laps (including winning the first segment while going away) before developing an engine issue. The team tried to fix the issue during the 10-minute break after the first two segments, but eventually gave in after the issue was deeper in the engine.

Teammate Denny Hamlin also led in the last segment, but developed a similar issue forcing him to retire after 86 laps.

Carl Edwards was tabbed by Lowe's Motor Speedway track president Humpy Wheeler to win the event, but instead won the second segment two to lead into the halftime pit road break. The No. 99 crew must have made some big adjustments as Carl's car wasn't nearly the same afterwards, and he never competed for the win again.

Greg Biffle won segment three, but he even couldn't run down Kasey Kahne in the waning laps of the fourth and final segment as the No. 9 Dodge pulled away to a steady lead and ultimate victory.

While Kahne has always been one of the more popular drivers since his arrival into Sprint Cup a few years ago, you can imagine he's never been more appreciative to have fans on his side.

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