CONCORD, N.C. Jamie McMurray knew whoever led the first lap of the Sprint All Star Race's 10-lap shootout would likely win the $1 million prize.
He was determined it would be him.
McMurray used the difficult outside lane to pass Carl Edwards on at the start of the final segment Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, then made it stick to win his first All-Star Race.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who won his first career race at Charlotte in 2002 and won his last downforce race at the same track in 2010, held off Kevin Harvick to score a surprising victory.
I was like, 'Screw it. If we drive off into the corner and we all wreck, I don't care,' McMurray said. I could see the million bucks.
Though McMurray has only eight career wins including Saturday night's exhibition race some of them include the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and now the All-Star Race.
It's one of those memories I hope I never forget, McMurray said of racing side-by-side with Edwards in the final segment of the race. It's what we wake up every single day and live for is to be put in that exact position. It's really awesome.
Crew chief Keith Rodden, in his first year in the role after serving as Kasey Kahne's longtime engineer, said McMurray drove amazing.
That race with Carl was really special, Rodden said. I'm looking forward to carrying this momentum to winning some points races.
McMurray could use the momentum. He's 24th in the point standings and currently on the outside of the Chase for the Sprint Cup picture.
In the meantime, the driver's portion of the $1 million will go toward the college funds for his two young children and a third on the way, McMurray said. He started thinking about the money when he realized he would start the fifth and final segment on the front row.
I can't explain to you how unbelievable that is to hold a check up for that much money, said McMurray, who acknowledged being buzzed off a large bottle of champagne during his post-race interviews.
Edwards, who finished fifth after coming off pit road with the lead, said McMurray drove perfect on the final restart.
My hat is off to him, Edwards said. He did a great job. He earned it. I drove as hard as I could while he was on the outside and he gave me just the right amount of room to not wreck me, but still beat me. ... It's a really tough one, though.
Harvick finished second, Matt Kenseth third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fourth. Edwards wound up fifth.
Kurt Busch, who flew in from Indianapolis Motor Speedway after qualifying runs for the Indianapolis 500, finished 11th of 22 cars.
Fourth segment
The top five cars had taken two tires after Segment 3, which put former leader Kasey Kahne (four tires) in fifth place to start the segment. McMurray was the first of those cars, which gave him the lead.
On the first lap of the segment, Jeff Gordon had some sort of mechanical failure and collected Martin Truex Jr. and Greg Biffle as he shot up the track. All three ended up hitting the wall together.
Something broke, Gordon said. It was going down the back straightaway, and as I got to the corner, I felt the front end set down and just go straight.
After the crash, some drivers said there was still oil on the track. Two-time segment winner Kahne was among them, and said he hit the wall hard when he ran through some of the slippery stuff.
As the segment ended, Kahne then blew a tire and smashed the wall again.
Smoke and flames come from Jeff Gordon's car during Segment 4 of the All-Star Race. Later, Gordon said ''Something broke.'' (Photo: Gerry Broome, AP)
Third segment
Four cars gambled by not pitting after the second segment: McMurray, Kenseth, Brad Keselowski and Truex Jr. That quartet started Segment 3 as the leaders.
But soon, fresher tires prevailed. Segment 2 winner Kahne who had made a pit stop got back to the lead in just seven laps. Kahne then quickly pulled away and cruised to his second segment win of the night.
Harvick was second, followed by three of the cars who stayed out -- McMurray, Keselowski and Kenseth.
Second segment
Kahne passed Edwards late in Segment 2 and held it until completion of the 20-lap period to lead for the first time since he won in 2008.
Edwards was second, followed by Harvick, Biffle and Kurt Busch.
Before the start of the second segment, Denny Hamlin stayed out while the rest of the field pitted following the first segment, giving him a temporary lead.
Pole-sitter Edwards reclaimed the lead five laps into the next run.
Former leader Kyle Busch had restarted fifth due to pit strategy others in front of him took two tires and he took four. But when Busch faded to seventh, he made contact with Clint Bowyer on the backstretch and lost control of his car while trying to avoid the sideways No. 15.
Busch hit the wall hard, bounced off and was then clobbered by Joey Logano who had no place to go.
By the time the smoke cleared, I was in the wrong spot, Logano told his team on the radio.
Busch, obviously upset, then tried to walk back to pit road before an official convinced him to take the mandatory ride to the infield care center.
Just trying to go, you know? Busch said. You've got to run hard and try to get as many positions as you can to try to get the (best) average finish. ... Bit me in the rear.
On the ensuing restart, AJ Allmendinger wrecked when Biffle tired to squeeze by on the high side and Brian Vickers bumped into Allmendinger, who was in the low lane.
First segment
Kyle Busch won the first segment, taking the top position from Edwards on lap 9 of the 20-lap run.
There were no incidents during the opening segment. Gordon was second, followed by Harvick, Kahne and Edwards, who faded after starting on the pole.
The average finishing position from four 20-lap segments will be used to line up the cars before a mandatory four-tire pit stop heading into the final 10-lap shootout.
Busch, second among active drivers in All-Star laps led, is looking for his first win in the $1 million exhibition race.
Edwards wins pole
Speculation about Edwards' future certainly isn't slowing him down.
Edwards won the pole, mastering the unusual format to put his Roush Fenway Racing team in the top spot.
It was fun, Edwards said. I thought I was going to run out in the grass. Fortunately, we got it all slowed down. I think I'm still shaking a little bit. It's so intense.
Edwards, whose contract is up after this season, could leave Roush Fenway for another team. However, neither he nor RFR is commenting.
Either way, Edwards was focused on winning the $1 million prize at Saturday night's race, as he did in 2011. All-Star Race qualifying is different than every other NASCAR event. Drivers made three laps but were required to pit for a mandatory four-tire stop. The catch? There was no speed limit on pit road for qualifying, which created the unusual image of drivers screaming onto pit road at full speed and then trying to slow their cars down before arriving at their stall.
Several drivers had problems getting into their pit boxes.
Vickers and Tony Stewart, the first two drivers to attempt their qualifying runs, both overshot their targets. Stewart got the worst of it, breaking a gear when he threw the car into reverse to try and back into his stall (the team went to the garage to repair the No. 14 car before the race began).
They weren't the only ones to have difficulty. Hamlin went through his pit stall, then had problems reversing the car and lost valuable seconds while the crew pushed him back. Ryan Newman had a similar issue, then stalled his car leaving the pit box to make matters worse.
David Ragan was among those carrying an abnormally high speed entering pit road -- 155 mph -- but it cost him. Ragan missed his pit box by about three stalls.
SATURDAY'S RESULTS:
Lap length: 1.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (11) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 90 laps, 120.3 rating, 0 points.
2. (3) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 90, 123.9, 0.
3. (8) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 90, 88.3, 0.
4. (6) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 90, 92.4, 0.
5. (1) Carl Edwards, Ford, 90, 99.1, 0.
6. (5) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 90, 85.1, 0.
7. (9) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 90, 67.8, 0.
8. (16) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 90, 71.6, 0.
9. (22) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 90, 54.1, 0.
10. (13) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 90, 73.3, 0.
11. (18) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 90, 57.8, 0.
12. (15) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 90, 41, 0.
13. (20) David Ragan, Ford, 90, 36.4, 0.
14. (7) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 90, 95.3, 0.
15. (19) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 90, 32.4, 0.
16. (21) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, accident, 77, 44, 0.
17. (4) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, accident, 60, 87.1, 0.
18. (12) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, accident, 60, 37.6, 0.
19. (14) Greg Biffle, Ford, accident, 60, 36.4, 0.
20. (17) A J Allmendinger, Chevrolet, accident, 30, 41.5, 0.
21. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 25, 90.6, 0.
22. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, accident, 25, 50.7, 0.
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 100.517 mph.
Time of Race: 1 hour, 20 minutes, 35 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.696 seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 12 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C.Edwards 1-9; Ky.Busch 10-20; D.Hamlin 21-25; C.Edwards 26-34; K.Kahne 35-40; J.McMurray 41-46; K.Kahne 47-60; J.McMurray 61-75; K.Harvick 76-80; J.McMurray 81-90.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): J.McMurray, 3 times for 31 laps; K.Kahne, 2 times for 20 laps; C.Edwards, 2 times for 18 laps; Ky.Busch, 1 time for 11 laps; K.Harvick, 1 time for 5 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 5 laps.
Wins: K.Harvick, 2; J.Logano, 2; Ku.Busch, 1; Ky.Busch, 1; D.Earnhardt Jr., 1; C.Edwards, 1; J.Gordon, 1; D.Hamlin, 1; Bra.Keselowski, 1.
Top 12 in Points: 1. J.Gordon, 394; 2. M.Kenseth, 379; 3. Ky.Busch, 373; 4. D.Earnhardt Jr., 368; 5. C.Edwards, 367; 6. J.Logano, 346; 7. J.Johnson, 340; 8. R.Newman, 332; 9. G.Biffle, 328; 10. B.Vickers, 327; 11. Bra.Keselowski, 326; 12. D.Hamlin, 318.
