All-Star Race delivers what fans want: The unexpected

Expect the unexpected Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway. History tends to repeat itself in the Sprint Cup Series' annual all-star event.

At the first running of what is now called the Sprint All-Star Race, Darrell Waltrip won the race as the engine in his Junior Johnson-prepared Chevrolet expired in a huge plume of smoke. To this day, some believe Waltrip purposely detonated the engine to prevent being caught with something outside of the rules.

That unexpected moment was the first of many and include:

All-Star Race

SPEED will again broadcast the Sprint Showdown and All-Star Race. Tune in at 7 p.m. ET on May 17 to watch rivals race for $1 million -- and the fireworks!

• All-Star coverage

• The famed "Pass in the Grass," when Dale Earnhardt went to the infield racing with Bill Elliott in 1987. That may be the most defining moment in the race's 23-year history.

• Waltrip's hoping Rusty Wallace "chokes on that $200,000" after Wallace nudged Waltrip out of the lead in 1989. That changed history: Waltrip went from one of the sport's most loathed to its most popular driver overnight.

• The 1992 winner never making it to Victory Lane. The first night all-star race was punctuated by the Victory Lane celebration that didn't happen because the winner of the race, Davey Allison, spent the night in the hospital after crashing at the finish line.

Jeff Gordon, a three-time winner, has been involved in his share of bizarre moments.

He ran out of fuel just after taking the white flag in 1998 and handed the win to Mark Martin. In 2001, Gordon won the race in his backup car after a sudden downpour drenched the track on the first lap and more than a dozen cars were damaged in a massive crash.

The All-Star Race is different from other races in that it is made up of four 25-lap segments. The arrangement is a caldron for drama. Which is fine with Gordon.

"We all look forward to it because of the excitement, the prestige, the bragging rights and the million dollars that goes to the winner," Gordon said. "There are no points on the line, which means there is less pressure on the teams. But it seems there is more excitement surrounding the event. You just have fun and race hard."

Last year's race, one of the calmest, wasn't without controversy, either.

On Lap 62, brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch crashed hard in Turn 1 while racing for the lead. Older brother Kurt's comments about changing his breakfast cereal preferences -- Kellogg's was Kyle's sponsor -- are more memorable than anything winner Kevin Harvick said in Victory Lane.

The race also has a unique qualifying format: The drivers make a pit stop during their three-lap run, which puts added emphasis on the team aspect of the sport. Qualifying is Friday night.

"If we win the race," Harvick said, "we'll take all the money and split it up between the guys because they are really part of the reason why you win. They've worked just as hard for this race, if not harder, than they have at any other race. It means a lot to them, too."

The million-dollar payday for the winner always has the drivers' attention. Mix in the fact no points are on the line, and it leads to a lot of moves that drivers normally wouldn't make. Jimmie Johnson, a two-time winner, would expect nothing less.

"If you are in the right position, absolutely," he said. "If you're running around seventh or eighth, there is no need to take chances and tear up a racecar. But if you're up there racing for a million bucks, absolutely."