All-Star unpredictability

CONCORD, N.C. -- The crowd at Lowe's Motor Speedway for Saturday night's Nextel All-Star Challenge did not seem as large as in recent years, with many fans in the upper reaches of some grandstand areas cleverly disguised as empty seats.

Blame the soaring gas prices, if you will. Or maybe some fans just didn't believe the action would match the hype -- although this is the rare race where it often exceeds it, however heavy that hype might be laid on.

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By the end, though, there were well over a hundred thousand folks on their feet, cheering as eventual winner Kevin Harvick held off Jimmie Johnson, the guy whose car carries the same logo as the racetrack and has in recent years certainly acted like he owned the place (watch video).

That Harvick won made it more fun. Another win by Johnson, or by anyone from Hendrick Motorsports for that matter, would have undoubtedly brought waves of cheers from his legions of fans at LMS but might have turned off scores more watching at home who have grown tired of seeing Hendrick teams celebrate in Victory Lane at seemingly every Nextel Cup event these days.

The Hendrick haters just wanted to see something different (watch video).

After all, isn't that what NASCAR's all-star event has always been about? Offering something different? Something fun?

It certainly started out like old all-star times at the beginning Saturday night. But then it started to get ... well ... a little too predictable. Only the Harvick-Johnson duel, preceded by the brothers Busch crashing each other out of the event early in the final of four segments, prevented the Challenge itself from becoming a total yawnfest.

On the other hand, the fun started immediately after the green flag was dropped for The Nextel Open, where 32 drivers who hadn't previously qualified for The All-Star Challenge tried to race their way into the show.

And it is a Show, no question about it. From start to finish, it's a slick production designed to be fan-friendly and wreck-filled as the sport's biggest stars try to run down a piece of history (winners can forever more boast of it on their resumes) and the $1 million top prize.

Even renowned gospel singer Bebe Winans went over the top when he took nearly three minutes (two minutes, 51 seconds, to be exact) to sing the national anthem. (Continued)