All-Star thoughts and observations

Being popular sometimes pays off, just ask Kasey Kahne. Kahne won the fan vote and then won the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway Saturday night. He beat Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart to the line to claim his first All-Star Race victory.

Thoughts and observations

Kahne admitted that during the Sprint Showdown his No. 9 Budweiser Dodge was, for lack of a better term, junk. It didn't deserve to be in the All-Star Race. But the fans didn't agree. Good thing for Kahne and crew. I wonder how the No. 9 team is going to pay back all those fans who voted for Kahne and company. Maybe they will buy the country a round, I bet that would do it.

What a great day for AJ Allmendinger. Earlier this season their was talk that he was going to loose his ride in the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota. Fast forward to the Sprint Showdown and Allmendigner is standing in victory lane with the trophy. It wasn't exactly a huge victory in the grand scheme of things, but Allmendinger said it felt like he had won the Daytona 500.

Speaking of great days, Sam Hornish Jr. might have finally figured out this stock car thing. Not only did he race his way into the Sprint All-Star Race by finishing second to Allmendinger in the Sprint Showdown, but he came back from two laps down and a meeting with the wall to finish 7th in the All-Star Race. To put that into perspective, here are some of the All-Stars he beat to finish their: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Impressive, no?

Outside of the great story that was Kahne winning the All-Star Race, the race itself was pretty lackluster. No cautions for accidents during the All-Star Race and only two cars failed to finish (both Joe Gibbs Racing cars, which had engine issues). There were a few close calls, like Sam Hornish Jr. brushing the wall, but outside of that, the Sprint Showdown was more interesting then the main event. Another format change may be on its way for the All-Star race, as much as I hate to admit it.

Speaking of the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota's, it came out today that they were testing their own engines this weekend during the All-Star Race. The result? All three drivers broke their motors, though Stewart broke his in practice. Apparently the JGR engine builders need to work on their rocker arms (the culprit in all three motors).

Elliott Sadler's response to wrecking out of the Sprint Showdown was a bit of a surprise from the Virginia native. He obviously wasn't happy with Allmendinger, even if he didn't actually know his name. I think maybe Sadler needs to look back to Darlington before he decides to say anything about anyone wrecking him.