Gordon's bid for All-Star history takes different spin

CONCORD, N.C. -- With eight laps to go in Saturday night's Sprint Cup All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, it seemed Jeff Gordon was in position to make history.

Instead, a few scant seconds later the front end of Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet was crumpled, his run at the record books in ruins.

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Three-wide battle with Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch puts Jeff Gordon out of the race.

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Gordon was attempting to become the first driver ever to win the All-Star Race a fourth time. Entering Saturday, only he and Dale Earnhardt were previous three-time winners of the event.

With the All-Star format changed this year to include a 10-lap shootout at the end, Gordon appeared to be in good position when he finished first in the third segment (watch video). That put him on the inside pole of sorts for the final 10-lap dash for the cash -- the $1 million prize that went to the race winner.

As soon as the restart for the final segment commenced, however, Gordon almost immediately found himself under fire from behind by both Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman.

With eight to go, they got three-wide coming out of Turn 4 and heading for the frontstretch. As Gordon hugged the bottom as best he could, Busch came along the outside of him and Newman squeezed in along the wall on the outside of Busch. Gordon drifted up slightly and touched with Busch, sending the No. 24 sliding sideways off the track and into the grass in front of the grandstands.

Gordon tried to gather the car and almost was successful, but it eventually drifted back across the track and banged nose-first into the outside wall. Water gushed from underneath the hood and ran down the track, signaling the certain end to Gordon's evening. (Continued)