It is the weekend in the sport that NASCAR will take the gloves off, and where "Boys Have At It" won't have an effect on the standings.  Rivalries are either renewed, or taken to an entirely new level.

Points and championships are far from everyone's mind, and the rules are tweaked for more excitement.  It's 100 laps of full-throttle, no-nonsense action.  The prize for being the one to take the checkered flag...$1 million in winnings.

It's the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, an event where memories are made, and moments are never forgotten.

Normally at this point, the writers in the Victory Pool would give your their picks as to who is going to win Saturday night.  But, seriously, what will it do for the standings?  There's no points on the line, so why make the choice for one driver.

So, since this is a special weekend honoring NASCAR's best, we all are going to shake things up a bit.  This race has been known to create drama, chaos, and unforgettable memories.

With that in mind, the writers have gotten together and have submitted their choices for their favorite All-Star race moment.

Here's what everyone has decided:

 

Misan Ayuka (SB Nation):  Owner...Driver...WINNER (2009)

Jimmie Johnson lead all of the first 50 laps in the first segment of the race.  The next two segments were won by Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth with very good racing in between.

But after that ten minutebreak all hell broke loose.

In the very first lap of the ten lap shootout Jimmie Johnson was spun off the front bumper of Denny Hamlin.  Then we saw a three car battle for the lead from Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman who almost went two laps down in the first segment.  They were all coming out of turn four three wide and no one gave.  Newman hit the wall, bounced into Busch, Busch hit Gordon, and Gordon ended up on the hook.  The next restart Newman faded and eventually parked his car, Kyle Busch slowly faded as well as Matt Kenseth passed him for the lead.

Then one more caution came out.  Tony Stewart was in 3rd right behind these two licking his chops.  He came right on Kenseth's bumper looking for a way by.  With two laps to go Smoke went by Kenseth flying on the bottom.  Then he won it.  Stewart Haas Racing's first winning triumph points or non-points was alas here.  Stewart's move to start his own team was offically justified.

There was great racing that night but perhaps a story line that will be hard to beat.

 

James Broomhead (The Checkered Flag):  Juan Montoya, welcome to NASCAR (2007)

The Colombian is fresh out of F1, still finding his feet (and his head) in stockcar racing and is yet to take the win at Sonoma that history tells us he’ll get. He is starting fifth in the Nextel Open – the evening’s B-feature. First of second here and you’re into the All-Star race.

That’s clearly something Montoya wants, as he dives down the inside on the very first corner of the race, past Dave Blaney and up onto the three-quarter panel of David Gilliland in the Yates Ford, then into the three-quarter panel. Gilliland’s Ford and Montoya’s Dodge go spinning with the field behind scattering in the smoke, where contact knocks others out of contention.

Choruses of ‘what was he doing’ echo around, but the NASCAR world has been properly introduced to Juan Montoya – the aggressive driver that is now a familiar part of NASCAR (very familiar if you’re Ryan Newman!). As for what he was thinking...it’s the All-Star night. No holds barred, all out chase for glory. Aggressive driving is what it’s about!

 

Kelly Crandall (Speedway Media):  Don't Break the Rules...Change Them (2002)

In 2002, the race was split up into three segments: the first being 40 laps, the second 30 laps and the final segment 20 laps. There was also a knockout format, called Survival of the Fastest where drivers would be eliminated after each segment. The top-20 advanced to segment two and the top-10 advanced to the final segment.

Per the NASCAR rules, all drivers are required to make a pit stop, but Burton was still cruising with three laps to go. With the competition having already made their stops, Burton held a 26 second lead over Jimmie Johnson and with two laps to go the broadcast crew featuring Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds, starting to think out loud.

“We didn’t miss something did we?” asked Waltrip, as Burton headed for turn one with two laps to go.

Not pitting would mean not playing by NASCAR rules and possibly being disqualified. There was no going back as the team either lost track of the lap count or were having trouble communicating. Whatever the reason one could come up with there was no denying that Burton had missed his chance to pit...or did he? With excitement and curiosity in his voice Joy suddenly perked up, “What if your pit was before the start finish line, you pitted on the last lap and you only had to jump across the line?”

That’s exactly what Stoddard was going to have his driver do.  Brilliant it was as Burton made his stop and only had to go 50 yards to cross the finish line and advance into segment two. Had it not been for a full-speed Johnson and a slow stop, Burton might have even won instead of crossing second.

It was all a crew chief again doing what they do best and outsmarting the competition. Only on that May night Stoddard didn’t just pull off a brilliant move to outsmart the competition, he outsmarted NASCAR too.

 

Summer Dreyer (Next Time By):  The Unknown

Since Summer is actually in Charlotte this weekend, she really didn't have a favorite moment.  The one(s) she will remember could occur Saturday.

 

Billy Fellin (Richmond Times-Dispatch):  Two Is Better Than One (2008)

Kasey Kahne had been the fan's choice to be voted into the All-Star event. Charlotte is one of his better tracks, so it seemed the stars had aligned. Kasey landed up winning the All-Star Race, becoming the first "fan's choice" to win the event. The next week, he went on to win the Coca-Cola 600.As Kasey is my favorite driver, to see him win both events was really special.

 

Michael Hirshbein (Fan Vs. Fan):  Don't Have One

Not gonna lie, I don't really have an ALL-STAR moment.

 

Christopher Leone (On Pit Row):  The Original All-Star Underdog (1996)

Here's a guy that had never won anything in Winston Cup in his life. He gets into the big show by virtue of placing fifth in the Winston Open - he doesn't even win the thing, Jimmy Spencer does - and scoring the final transfer spot into the Winston Select.

Then, despite starting last, he beats Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin, and Terry Labonte to the line. Those are four of the five best drivers of the 1990s, with hundreds of career wins and nine titles (at this point, Labonte would make it 10 later that year) between them...and Mikey beats them all.

We all love underdog stories. We all remember Trevor Bayne winning his first career Sprint Cup race at Daytona with the Wood Brothers earlier this year, but before that, there was Mikey's upset win at the all-star race.

 

Kara Martin (Speedway Media):  Brotherly "Love" (2007)

My favorite moment is when the Kyle Busch took himself and his brother out of the 2007 All-Star race. Sibling rivalry is awesome and couldn't happen to be better pair of brothers!!

 

Ryan O'Hara (Speedway Media):  The Original All-Star Underdog (1996)

At the time, Waltrip was really a nobody because he hadn't won an actual Cup points race yet, but he was driving the legendary 21 car.

 

Dustin Parks (All About Horsepower):  Rain To Riches (2001)

We all know that NASCAR and rain is not a good combination.  But in 2001, it led to something that had never been done before.  At the beginning of the Winston, literally entering turn 1, every car began sliding.  Jeff Gordon, Michael Waltrip, Kevin Harvick, and a few others had their cars destroyed.  Why...it was raining.  You could see the water bouncing off the destroyed cars.

It seemed like the night ended before it started.  Teams were working on their cars under the red flag, which was a unique rule for the race, as some began loading up to head home.

But then, an unprecedented call.  With an interview being conducted on Michael Waltrip, word came down that NASCAR would allow the teams that wrecked to head back to the hauler and unload the backup car.

Waltrip asked D.W. what he thought, and he replied back by saying, "No, that's the call...get out the backup car."

Gordon's team unloaded his backup No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, and the car was a rocket right from the drop of the green flag.  In a car that was never practiced, never qualified...didn't even see the track until the race started, Gordon went to victory.

"Rain to Riches" in just one night...simply unbelievable.

 

Sal Sigala Jr. (3 Wide and 1 To Go):  None Chosen

No moment sent before posting time.

 

Rob Tiongson (The Podium Finish):  Jurassic Park Strikes Charlotte (1997)

Perhaps my favorite All-Star race moment was the 1997 edition in which Jeff Gordon started towards the back of the field in a specially painted No. 24 Jurassic Park Chevy otherwise known as the T-Rex car. He didn't win the first or second segment but his car was on such a rail, Gordon commented that his car "stuck like glue" around the track. That power was very prevalent during the third, final segment in which he flat out defeated the sport's best that night. How strong was his car? Let's just say that NASCAR told the team that they weren't allowed to bring it back to the track again. It was a revolutionary car for the time, touching on NASCAR's gray areas with elements of the stock cars.

Gordon's won the All-Star race on two other occasions (1995 and '01) but the '97 race will always be my favorite not only for the great coverage that night, but because of that T-Rex of a car.

 

Final Thoughts:  All these memories came on nights where points didn't matter, but victory did.  What could happen next?

Find out Saturday Night on SPEED.  Coverage begins at 7 p.m. with the Sprint Showdown, the 40-lap prelude where the top two drivers will transfer to the All-Star Race.

After revealing the winner of the Sprint Fan Vote, the green flag waves on the 2011 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at approximately 9 p.m. ET.