Matt Kenseth celebrates winning the All-Star Challenge at Lowes Motor Speedway. (Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images Photo) » More Photos

1997: Jeff Gordon dominated the event driving a specially designed Hendrick Motorsports chassis dubbed “T-Rex,” as the car featured a paint scheme promoting the Jurassic Park movie. Gordon had to pass Terry Labonte to take the lead. Though legal, NASCAR told crew chief Ray Evernham to never bring the unique car back to the track.

1998: Jeff Gordon appeared headed for his second consecutive victory when he ran out of gas on the final lap and Mark Martin drove to his first All-Star win. “I saw him slow and I know I’m pretty stupid because I forget a lot, but I knew it was the white flag and not the checkered flag,” Martin said. “I saw him slow and I said he’s going to slow and make this a show, and he never started going again.”

1999: A four-tire pit stop late in the race propelled Terry Labonte to victory after a side-by-side battle with rookie Tony Stewart in a race plagued by a pair of multi-car accidents. By winning over the hard-charging rookie, Labonte became the fourth driver to win multiple All-Star events, joining Dale Earnhardt, Davey Allison and Jeff Gordon.

2000: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. rose from the shadows with a late charge from mid-pack to win the race in his rookie season aboard the No. 8 owned by his father. “This is really a special night for me,” the young Earnhardt said. “I’ll never forget tonight and I’ll never forget how proud I am of the team. You get up there on stage with your dad and a lot of realizations come into play and come into mind, a lot of flashbacks of old times.”

2001: Jeff Gordon posted his third victory in NASCAR’s all-star race—driving a back-up car. Gordon’s primary No. 24 Chevrolet was among several cars damaged when a rain shower drenched turn one just moments after the green flag. Teams were allowed to repair or replace their damaged cars while the track was dried. “When I walked out of the infield care center from that first-lap wreck, my neck was a little stiff,” Gordon said after leading the final nine laps. “But when I saw how hard the guys at Hendrick Motorsports were working on getting the back-up car ready, it inspired me.

2002: Rookie Ryan Newman earned the final starting spot in the 27-car field and held off a late charge from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to claim the $794,326 first-place prize. “That was just good, hard racing,” Newman said about his battle with Earnhardt Jr. “He had four tires that were fresher than mine, and that makes a big difference. He caught me with about two laps go, cut underneath me a couple of times but couldn’t complete the pass. We had to work hard for everything tonight.”

2003: Jimmie Johnson learned from his mistakes in the 2002 race and became the first driver to earn more than $1 million for winning the annual all-star event. He was nearly a full second ahead of Kurt Busch at the checkered flag. “We learned a lot winning those first two segments last year,” said Johnson.

2004: Matt Kenseth, the reigning NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, fought off 2002 All-Star winner Ryan Newman to capture the victory and the $1 million check that went with it. Nextel introduced a new fan-voting element, allowing Ken Schrader to be voted into the field.

2005: After dominating 18 laps of the final 20-lap segment, Mark Martin captured his second career NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge. Martin’s Viagra Ford, decked out in a 1995 paint scheme based on his old Valvoline colors, took the checkered flag a mere half-second ahead of Elliott Sadler.

2006: After qualifying second for the 22nd running of the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge and leading 33 of 90 laps, Jimmie Johnson placed his team among the stars by winning his second all-star event.
Johnson avoided a multi-car accident on Lap 48 that eliminated six cars.

2007: Kevin Harvick won the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge by holding off two-time event-winner Jimmie Johnson. But the real story came when brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch wrecked each other while dicing for the lead late in the race. “We both thought we had a chance to win a million dollars,” said older brother Kurt. “When two brothers that think alike in many different ways are on the same spot on the racetrack, it made for a unique action-packed set of corners.”

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

SPEED will televise the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV and the NASCAR Sprint Showdown live on May 17, as well as provide more than 90 hours of support programming prior to the event. Stay tuned to SPEEDTV.com for frequent updates on the history of the event and all the details about this year’s action.

Get this widget!