Allmendinger wins Showdown, advances with Hornish to all-star race
By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor
Sunday, May 18, 2008
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CONCORD, N.C. – The NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star race will include a couple of open-wheel stars, too. Former Champ Car winner AJ Allmendinger won the Sprint Showdown at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, advancing to NASCAR’s all-star race with former Indy Racing League champion Sam Hornish Jr. finishing second to also earn a berth.
Kasey Kahne also advanced to the all-star race by winning a special fan vote.
Allmendinger, driving Red Bull Racing’s No. 84 Toyota, grabbed the lead from David Ragan in Turn 2 on the restart for the final 20-lap segment of the Showdown.
Allmendinger inched away from the field, though Hornish’s Penske Racing Dodge ran him down in the closing laps. Guaranteed a transfer spot, however, Hornish didn’t go all out for the lead.
“I feel like I won the Daytona 500,” Allmendinger said. “Nobody understands what this means to me, after what we went through with this team.”
Allmendinger, in his second season in NASCAR’s top series, has made only three starts in 2008 after failing to qualify for several races and getting replaced for a few by Mike Skinner.
Hornish finished third in the first 20-lap segment but slipped on the restart and lost a couple of positions. But his No. 77 Dodge was fast, catching Ragan for second with 12 laps to go.
A lap later, Hornish drove underneath Ragan at the start/finish line and completed the pass for second.
Ragan (Roush Fenway Racing) finished third, with Brian Vickers (Red Bull Racing) fourth. Vickers led 19 of the first 20 laps but pitted for four tires during the break between segments and couldn’t make his way back to the front.
Kahne finished fifth for Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Sixth through 10th were David Reutimann (Michael Waltrip Racing), David Gilliland (Yates Racing), Travis Kvapil (Yates), J.J. Yeley (Hall of Fame Racing) and Dave Blaney (Bill Davis Racing).
The craziness started early in the first segment. Not long after Vickers took the lead in Turn 2 on the high side around Elliott Sadler, Joe Nemechek slowed on the backstretch and Chad McCumbee bounced off the wall in Turn 4.
On lap three, Patrick Carpentier spun and hit the wall off Turn 2 to bring out the first caution. Three laps later, Allmendinger slipped in Turn 1 and slid into polesitter Sadler, sending Sadler’s No. 19 Dodge into the wall.
- Mentioned Drivers:
- AJ Allmendinger
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