Kurt Busch take All-Star title

$1 million can make people do a lot of crazy things. Saturday night, it made NASCAR’s best do just that. Among a slew of crashes and exciting racing over the final laps, Kurt Busch and the No. 2 Miller Lite Vortex Dodge emerged victorious, beating out Martin Truex Jr. and a hard-charging Joey Logano for his first victory in NASCAR’s premier event.

“This is huge,” Busch said. “These are one of the big marquee events….this, Daytona, the 600 and Indy. Just to be able to do it in front of the Penske Racing organization. This is phenomenal.”

Jimmie Johnson dominated most of the night, leading 56 of the 100 laps, but was beat off pit road by Denny Hamlin after the mandatory four-tire stop before the final 10-lap segment. That’s when the madness began. Hamlin and Johnson, now in second and third, respectively, were coming off turn four when Johnson spun down into the infield.

“I knew I had to clear the No. 11 on the outside of me so I just kept my foot in it,” Johnson said of the incident with Hamlin. “I could feel them on the outside of me kind of pulling the back end of my car around but I said, ‘the hell with it, it’s the All-Star race.’ I kept my foot on the floor and hoped that I made it off the turn and I didn’t. It turned around on me.”

On lap 94, perhaps the most controversial accident of the night happened. With Hamlin in the lead and Kyle Busch following closely in second, Busch appeared to be headed for the lead on a good run out of turn two. But his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate blocked him, forcing Busch into the wall and out of contention. As Busch and Hamlin collided, Kurt Busch flew past both and into the lead for the final time.

The night was virtually accident-free before the final segment. But just as the 10-lap final segment began, a multi-car wreck exploded on the front stretch, collecting seven cars before a green flag lap was completed. Because a green flag lap had not been completed, the cars restarted in the same order with Hamlin leading.

Kurt took the first 50-lap segment with a pass of his brother Kyle on lap 49. Johnson won the second segment by a wide margin, followed by Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin and Hamlin.

The third segment was a near mirror-image of the second, as Johnson came home first again, followed by Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin and Kyle Busch.

By virtue of rain showers on Friday, Kurt Busch won the pole for Saturday’s All-Star event. Saturday night, he was covered by a shower of Miller Lite in victory lane. Most people might put $1 million into savings. But how will Kurt Busch celebrate?

“I don’t know. A million Miller Lites!”