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Ryan Newman, Mark Martin and Ricky Craven go three-wide during last year's The Winston at Lowe's. Credit: Autostock
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
May 21, 2004
10:52 AM EDT (1452 GMT)
CONCORD, N.C. -- Lowe's Motor Speedway has become the happy home of NASCAR's All-Star race, as it's hosted all but one of the special events that began in 1985.
The track's president, H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, made his annual prediction recently and cited Jeff Gordon as the favorite to win Saturday night's NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge, which will be preceded by the Nextel Open qualifying race.
Given Gordon's record in the event, a win for him does seem likely, but defending race winner Jimmie Johnson, Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, might have something to say about writing the next chapter in the event's statistical legacy.
1 -- The number of All-Star Challenge events not held at Lowe's Motor Speedway, namely the 1986 event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
1 -- The number of times a driver has won consecutive All-Star Challenges -- Davey Allison in 1991-1992.
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2 -- The number of drivers who have won the All-Star Challenge after transferring from qualifying events: Michael Waltrip (1996) and Ryan Newman (2002).
2 -- The number of drivers who transfer from the Nextel Open to the All-Star Challenge: The winner and a driver who wins a fan poll and finishes on the lead lap.
2 -- The number of drivers who have won All-Star Challenges in their rookie seasons: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman.
2 -- The number of rookies entered in the 2004 All-Star Challenge: Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers.
3 -- Jeff Gordon's career victory total in nine All-Star Challenge starts.
3 -- The number of laps run in All-Star Challenge qualifying, including a four-tire pit stop on one of those laps.
4 -- The number of victories by Earnhardts in the All-Star Challenge: Three by Dale Earnhardt and the 2000 event by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5 -- Rick Hendrick's leading number of victories in the All-Star Challenge by a car owner.
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5.14 -- Ken Schrader's leading average finish in seven starts, among drivers with four or more All-Star Challenge starts.
8 -- The number of times in 19 years that the winner of the All-Star Challenge has gone on to win the Cup championship, by Darrell Waltrip (1985), Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990, 1993) Rusty Wallace (1989) and Jeff Gordon (1995, 1997 and 2001).
10 -- The number of minutes teams will have to pit between segments one and two of the All-Star Challenge.
16 -- The number of consecutive All-Star Challenges competed in by Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip.
18 -- The leading career total of All-Star Challenges competed in by Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott, who missed only the 1991 and 1996 events, respectively.
25 -- The number of the 60 drivers eligible for the Nextel Open that have entered the event.
27 -- The largest starting field for the All-Star Challenge, in 2002.
30 -- The total number of laps in the Nextel Open, run in segments of 20 and 10 laps.
90 -- The total number of laps in the All-Star Challenge, run in segments of 40, 30 and 20 laps.
1992 -- The first year for the three-segment, 90-lap format for the All-Star Challenge.
1,003,500 -- The winner's share of the All-Star Challenge purse.
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