Twenty-four drivers for All-Star field

Twenty-one drivers are already in the field for the event, which gives the winner a check for US $1,012,975 dollars.

Drivers have been selected based on their status as race winners in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, past Cup champions and winners of the All-Star Challenge within the last ten years.

Only three Sprint Cup Series teams will have all their drivers in the field, including Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing. Among these teams the only driver who did qualify through being a recent race winner was Dale Earnhardt Jr, who makes the field by winning the All-Star event in 2000.

The event will be the last Cup outing for veteran and former champion Dale Jarrett, who returns to wave goodbye to the sport as a driver on Saturday. He qualified for the event through being a former champion, as did Bobby Labonte.

Three more drivers will complete the twenty-four-car field on Saturday, two by finishing first and second in the Sprint Showdown qualifying race, and another one who get voted in by the fans.

The event will start with the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew challenge on Thursday and the result of the contest will determine pit selection for the All-Star Challenge. On Friday, qualifying will take place with a special format including three laps and a mandatory four-tyre pitstop.

Saturday's All-Star race will consist of 100 laps, divided into four segments of 25. Teams may choose to pit between each two segments, although there is a mandatory stop before the final segment of the event.

Driver Why he's an All-Star

Greg Biffle          Victory at Kansas, Sept. 2007
Clint Bowyer         Victory at New Hampshire, Sept. 2007
Jeff Burton          Victory at Texas, April 2007
Kurt Busch           Victory at Pocono, Aug. 2007
Kyle Busch           Victory at Bristol, March 2007
Dale Earnhardt Jr.   Won 2000 All-Star race
Carl Edwards         Victory at Michigan, June 2007
Jeff Gordon          Victory at Phoenix, April 2007
Denny Hamlin         Victory at New Hampshire, July 2007
Kevin Harvick        Victory 2007 Daytona 500
Dale Jarrett         Won 1999 series championship
Jimmie Johnson       Victory at Las Vegas, March 2007
Matt Kenseth         Victory at California, Feb. 2007
Bobby Labonte        Won 2000 series championship
Mark Martin          Won 1998 All-Star race
Jamie McMurray       Victory at Daytona, July 2007
Casey Mears          Victory at Lowe's, May 2007
Juan Pablo Montoya   Victory at Infineon Raceway, June 2007
Ryan Newman          Won 2008 Daytona 500
Tony Stewart         Victory at Chicago, July 2007
Martin Truex Jr.     Victory at Dover, June 2007