Johnson Backs into All-Star Victory

The 2012 Sprint All-Star race started out with a bang. Drivers raced side-by-side throughout the field, feathers were ruffled and the recent changes Nascar made to the side skirts on the cars made the cars jumpy and hard to handle. The million dollar prize was anybody's to grab.

Then the final segment started.

The latest changes made to the race's format meant that the drivers who won the first four segments would line up 1-2-3-4 for the final pit stop. All they had to do was stop in their box, go and try to hold their spot. The crews didn't even need to service their cars.

But this new format came with an unforeseen issue. Once a driver won a segment, they would lag back the rest of the race to save their tires and equipment for the final 10-lap "shootout."

Jimmie Johnson won the first segment of the race and knew he would get that lead back when the No. 48 team came in for their final stop. Matt Kenseth won segment two and followed Johnson suite. Brad Keselowski was the third driver to win a segment and disappear to the rear of the pack. Sprint Showdown winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr won the fourth segment and looked like he would be the third driver to ever win the All-Star race after transferring in from the preliminary forty lap heat.

These four inherited the lead for the fifth and final segment. Despite challenges from Keselowski, Junior, and Marcos Ambrose, Johnson waved goodbye to the field and led the final ten laps and won his third All-Star win.

The race was not bad. Earnhardt, Jr and A.J. Allmendinger transferred in through the Showdown, started from the rear of the field and were contenders for the win the big money by the end of the race. Ambrose was also a strong contender throughout the race and it looked like the Aussie road racer-turned-stock car driver would finally shake the stereotype that he is only a road course ringer.

But in the end, the fans watching on television, and especially those who laid out their hard-earned money to see the race live, were sorely disappointed when a select few drivers decided not to give 100% Saturday night. Johnson, Kenseth and Keselowski didn't circumvent any rules. They merely took advantage of their situation. But that doesn't mean the fans have to like it. Johnson and his fans should be ashamed. Running half a lap down most all night, only to lead the final 10 laps and win the $1 million prize, is hardly an All-Star performance.

This race was almost perfect. If Charlotte Motor Speedway and Nascar would simply tweak the format and make it so all the drivers had to race all out for the entire event, like going back to eliminating drivers at the rear of the field at the ends of the segments, the race would be perfect. After what the No. 48 team pulled Saturday night, it's clear that something must be done before next year's race or the All-Star race will be at risk of becoming Nascar's equivalent of the NFL Pro Bowl.