Busch says 'hot dog break' is the key All-Star segment

CONCORD, N.C. -- With the final segment of Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race returning to a 10-lap sprint, the million-dollar move may come while many in attendance at Lowe's Motor Speedway are in line buying something to eat. For Kurt Busch, the 20-lap third segment -- what he referred to Friday as the "hot dog break" -- is where strategy will most come into play.

"It could be extremely difficult if you take four tires and bury yourself way in the back," said Busch, who will start next to pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson in the front row Saturday night. "I think there's going to be quite a bit of strategy played out during the hot dog break, which is the 20 laps before that. When you run that 20 laps, do you set your car up loose so that you don't have to come in for tires and fuel for the final 10 laps? Are the tires dropping off fast enough to where you need two tires? That's a question that still has to be answered."

Sprint All-Star Race

Lineup

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
2.	Kurt Busch	Dodge
3.	Matt Kenseth	Ford
4.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
5.	Mark Martin	Chevrolet
6.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
7.	Bobby Labonte	Ford
8.	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
9.	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
10.	Brad Keselowski	Chevrolet

• Complete Lineup | Photos

Kasey Kahne won last year's event, partly by gambling on older tires between the third and fourth segments, but he had 20 laps in which to make up ground earlier in the evening. That won't be the case with a return to the 10-lap final sprint.

As typical of the unique two-lap plus a pit stop qualifying format, there were some unusual -- and in some cases, hilarious -- happenings Friday night. Carl Edwards had one of the fastest times disallowed after his team was penalized a total of 15 seconds for three loose lug nuts. Denny Hamlin was on his way to a top qualifying effort but may have broken a U-joint on his exit from the pits (watch video). And in his haste to get back on the track, Tony Stewart left his pit stall after his crew had only changed right-side tires.

"I'll be right back," Stewart joked over the radio as he wound up having to back up the pit lane to finish the service (watch video). "I have no idea. I think I was so keyed up to go that I just screwed up that when the jack went, I went. I at least let the tire-changer clear but rolled the jack man down the side for the second straight week."

Jimmie Johnson's crew turned in a flawless stop, earning him the pole with a total time of 121.416 seconds, more than .7 seconds better than Busch (watch video). Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin completed the top five.

Johnson stressed the importance of track position in a race that features shorter segments, particularly the final 10-lap dash.

"I think with track position as important as it's going to be in the race, to be where we are is a great situation," said Johnson, who believes the eventual race winner will come from the front two rows on the final restart.

For Ryan Newman, Saturday night's race is much like an open-wheel trophy dash, except in this case, the check is a whole lot bigger.

"It just increases the intensity of the excitement," Newman said. "It's still exciting either way otherwise the fans wouldn't come and see it but the intensity of the excitement and I think that's due to the briefness of the last segment.

"I think there's going to be some crazy things that happen before that last segment but I think just that last 10 laps getting the job done is what it's all about. For me it goes back to the open-wheel racing and USAC where its eight-lap heat races and 12-lap semis and things like that where you've got to move forward."

And without an inversion, both Busch and Newman said it will be critical to use the third segment to gain track position.

"You want to be toward the front, and you might sacrifice a little bit of speed in your car so that you are in the front portion of that pack," Busch said.

"I commend them for not doing the inversion because there was a time at least from my standpoint where we actually raced backwards just to get the invert," Newman added. "It's all about racing forwards and trying to win the race."

Busch felt the difference between his qualifying time and Johnson's may have come on the entry to pit road.

"I may have messed up a little bit coming into pit road by getting on the brakes a little too early," he said. "And then once I got to the first timing beacon, I wasn't even in second gear to check my pit-road speed."

Busch planned on using the advice of teammates David Stremme and Sam Hornish Jr., who will be in the earlier Sprint Showdown, to determine what kind of strategy he'll employ later on.

"We'll learn something watching the Showdown," Busch said. "We'll look at that race and see how our teammates are doing in that race."

The Sporting News Wire Service contributed to this report.