Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes
Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Sprint All-Star Race Advance
Quote of the Week
"Participating in the Sprint All-Star Race is very rewarding for me and the Miller Lite Dodge team. It's an indication that you have achieved success in your profession and allows you to participate in a stand-alone event unlike any other we have. Just as Major League Baseball has their All-Star game or the PGA has the Masters, NASCAR fans and drivers get to enjoy our special weekend of racing in a unique format unlike no other in our sport."
Kurt Busch
Driver, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
DODGE AT THE ALL-STAR
Ryan Newman (2002) became the second rookie to win the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. Newman’s margin of victory was a mere 0.158 seconds. He finished second in the 2004 event to Matt Kenseth.
A Dodge driver has earned the pole four of the last five All-Star races (Bill Elliott ’03, Rusty Wallace ’04, Ryan Newman ’05 and Kasey Kahne ’06).
Current Dodge drivers Kurt Busch (’03), Ryan Newman (’04) and Elliott Sadler (’05) finished runner-up in consecutive All-Star races.
DID YOU KNOW?
Saturday night’s event will be the 24th running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. All have been run at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with the exception of the second (1986) which was contested at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Darrell Waltrip won the inaugural All-Star race in 1985. Waltrip’s $200,000 share of the $500,000 purse was the largest payout in NASCAR history at the time, eclipsing the $185,500 won by Bill Elliott in the 1985 Daytona 500.
The No. 12 Alltel Dodge pit crew won the 2007 NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge team competition. The seven man team won the four-tire pit stop and Craftsman Car Push with a time of 24.66 seconds. The team also had the quickest overall time (23.35 in the quarterfinals).
The first $1 million payday for the winner of the All-Star was in 2003.
LOWE’S TRACK FACTS
Lights were installed at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 1992 for the all-star event which was called The Winston at that time.
LMS was the first major motorsports facility in the country with a corporate sponsor (Lowe’s -1992).
George Washington ate lunch and rested in a house that once served as the speedway’s office.
Lowe’s Motor Speedway was repaved in 2006.
Kurt Busch
Starts: 6 Best Finish: 2nd (2003)
Eligible: 2007 Pennsylvania 500 Champion
Results: Three top-seven finishes
Earnings: $660,097
Ryan Newman
Starts: 6 Best Finish: Win (2002)
Eligible: 2008 Daytona 500 Champion
Results: Three top-five finishes
Earnings: $1,567,622
Bobby Labonte
Starts: 13 Best Finish: 2nd (1997,’98)
Eligible: 2000 Series Champion
Results: Four top-five finishes & seven top-10 finishes
Earnings: $980,231
Juan Pablo Montoya
Starts: 0 (Making first All-Star appearance)
Eligible: 2007 Toyota/Sav Mart 350
Earnings: $0
