The Sprint All-Star Race

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Carl Edwards won the race off pit road, then pulled away on the restart and led every lap of the final ten-lap segment to win the 2011 Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night.


Edwards won the second and third segments (both 20 laps each) of the four-segment race.  After the third segment, the cars lined up on pit road for a ten-minute intermission.  The cars then left pit road under yellow, then returned for a mandatory four-tire change.  Edwards beat Kyle Busch off pit road, then dominated the final segment, a ten-lap shootout, to win the $1,000,000 grand prize.  In all, Edwards won $1,203,300, the largest amount ever in a single All-Star Race.

Edwards beat Busch to the finish by 0.443 seconds.  David Reutimann finished third, followed by Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle.  Biffle, who won the first segment, a 50-lap affair, led twice for a race-high 46 laps.  (All-Star Race results)  It was Edwards's first All-Star Race win in six starts.  He becomes the eighth different All-Star Race winner in the past eight years.

As All-Star Races go, it was a pretty low-key affair.  No drama, no feuding, very few incidents, just a lot of hard racing.  There were only two cautions for accidents.  Both were one-car slides.  The only real incident of the evening occurred on Lap 2 of the preliminary event, the Sprint Showdown.  Landon Cassill's left rear tire blew causing him to spin.  He came up the track in front of Derrike Cope, who T-boned him in the driver's side door. 

Carl Edwards had some issues after winning the race while attempting a celebratory spin through the grass.  He went across a paved strip, then, when he hit the grass again, the nose of his car dug in and almost flipped the car over.  The front end of his car was destroyed, and NASCAR had to move the Victory Lane celebration to the front straightaway.

Eighteen drivers qualified for the All-Star Race.  David Ragan and Brad Keselowski raced their way into the All-Star Race by finishing first and second respectively in the Sprint Showdown.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. got into the All-Star Race by winning the fan vote.