Post-race report: Sprint All-Star race

Sprint All-Star Race

Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord

The winner and how he did it: Kasey Kahne seemed invisible for most of the night, and if not for a fan vote, he wouldn't have been in the field at all. Kahne managed to get track position on pit road and pulled off a remarkable upset.

The undercard: A.J. Allmendinger, who has never finished better than 15^th in a point race, won the Sprint Showdown, joining the main-event field along with Kahne, who was voted in, and Sam Hornish Jr., who finished second.

Assorted trivialities and historical notables:

Kahne was the third winner of the all-star race who managed to get in the field by unorthodox means. He was the first to win after getting in via a fan vote. Michael Waltrip (1996) and Ryan Newman (2002) won after getting into the field by means of the preliminary race.

The first three segments were won by Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

Kevin Harvick, who won the 2007 all-star race finished 11^th in this one.

The final segment began with Jimmie Johnson leading. Johnson had taken the lead on pit road.

Sam Hornish Jr. was the first rookie to qualify for the all-star race since Kahne and Brian Vickers did so in 2004.

Mentionable stuff they said later:

"It's kind of fun to be a contender again." - Matt Kenseth

"I'm pretty happy going into next week. Starting last and finishing fifth was a pretty big achievement for our team." - Tony Stewart.

"What did we learn? Track position is everything." - Jimmie Johnson

"You've got to be a lot faster than another car to pass it with car." - Greg Biffle

"That's the most pressure I've gone through." - A.J. Allmendinger, after winning the Sprint Showdown.