Lowe's Motor Speedway President H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

21st annual all-star race set for May 21 at Lowe's

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The 21st NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge returns May 21 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, with the winner collecting more than $1 million during one of the season's most exciting evenings.

The all-star event showcases race winners from the previous and current Nextel Cup seasons, plus the winner of the Nextel All-Star Challenge Open, a preliminary event for teams not qualified for the all-star event, and another Open driver who wins a fan vote into the all-star event.

	ALSO •   All-Star Challenge •   Trophy Tour •   Pit Crew Challenge •   All-Star Challenge Contest

Other qualified participants include past event champions and Cup series champions from the past 10 years (1995-2004) who are active drivers and have competed in at least one series event during the 2004 or '05 seasons. Entering Sunday's Advance Auto Parts 500 at Martinsville Speedway, 21 drivers have qualified for the Nextel All-Star Challenge.

The all-star evening begins with the Nextel All-Star Challenge Open, a 30-lap sprint divided into two segments, the first 20 laps and the second 10 laps. Two Open drivers will transfer to the all-star event, one by winning the Open and the other by winning a fan vote.

Next up is the Nextel All-Star Challenge. The 90-lap / 135-mile event will be divided into 40-, 30- and 20-lap segments and no driver will be eliminated after the first two segments to give the full field a chance to compete in the final segment.

But there is a competitive twist: During the 10-minute pit stop between the first and second segments, a random drawing will determine whether as few as six or as many as 12 cars will be inverted.

Defending champion Matt Kenseth leads the list of current qualifiers, followed by 2004 race winners Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Jeremy Mayfield, Joe Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Tony Stewart and Rusty Wallace; 2005 race winners Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick; past event champions Terry Labonte (1999) and Michael Waltrip (1996); and past series champions Bobby Labonte (2000) and Dale Jarrett (1999).