The Sprint Showdown and Sprint All-Star Race XXIV were run on Saturday, May 17, 2008, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, a suburb outside of Charlotte. The events were telecast live at 7 pm US EDT on Speed Channel with radio broadcast on MRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio beginning at 6:15 pm US EDT.

The All-Star Race is an annual race that involves winners of the entire 2007 and 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races (known as the Nextel Cup Series in 2007) through the Dodge Challenger 500, either as a driver or team owner, and also includes past championship drivers of the Winston/Nextel Cup series from 1998 through 2007, as well as winning drivers from 2000 to 2007, known through this period as either "The Winston" or the "Nextel All-Star Challenge".

Eligible 2008 drivers

NOTE: Only the driver's first accomplishment is listed, as most of those drivers listed have attained more than one of the previously mentioned accomplishments to qualify. All former All-Star Race winners are referenced by the current use of the Roman Numeral designation. For example, Ryan Newman won All-Star Race XVIII, but he also won the 2008 Daytona 500. Sprint Cup champions of the past ten years, winners of Sprint All-Star Races XIV through XXIII, and all race winners (driver and owner) from the 2007 Daytona 500 through the 2008 Dodge Challenger 500 have exemptions into the race, as will the top two finishing drivers in the Sprint Showdown as well as the fan vote winner from said Showdown.

The following drivers were eligible:

DriverEntry Win/Championship44Dale Jarrett+1999 Champion43Bobby Labonte2000 Champion24Jeff GordonFour-Time Series Champion, most recently 200117Matt Kenseth2003 Champion2Kurt Busch2004 Champion20Tony StewartTwo-Time Series Champion, most recently 200548Jimmie JohnsonTwo-Time Series Champion, most recently 200788Dale Earnhardt Jr.§2000 The Winston12Ryan Newman2002 The Winston8Mark Martin§2005 Nextel All-Star Challenge26Jamie McMurray2007 Pepsi 40029Kevin Harvick≠2007 Daytona 50018Kyle Busch±2007 Food City 5005Casey Mears±2007 Coca-Cola 60031Jeff Burton2007 Samsung 5001Martin Truex Jr.2007 Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa99Carl Edwards2007 Citizens Bank 40042Juan Pablo Montoya2007 Toyota/Save Mart 35011Denny Hamlin2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 30007Clint Bowyer2007 Sylvania 30016Greg Biffle2007 LifeLock 400

+ – Dale Jarrett is retiring after the 2008 Food City 500 marking his final driving appearance.

§ – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is eligible as a past All-Star Race winner as a driver, while the No. 8 team is also eligible as Mark Martin, a past All-Star Race winner, is scheduled to drive in this race.

± – Kyle Busch and Casey Mears are eligible as both won races in 2007 for different teams. Kyle Busch won the 2007 Food City 500 as the driver of the No. 5 team, while Mears won the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 with the No. 25 team (now the No. 88 team). Kyle Busch's No. 18 team won the 2008 Kobalt Tools 500 and 2008 Aaron's 499 and is eligible for the 2009 race as well.

≠ – Sprint All-Star Race XXIII Champion.

Entry list Showdown #DriverTeamMake 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 01 Regan Smith (R) Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 08 Tony Raines E&M Motorsports Dodge 9 Kasey Kahne Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 10 Patrick Carpentier (R) Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 15 Paul Menard Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 19 Elliott Sadler Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 21 Bill Elliott Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Dave Blaney Bill Davis Racing Toyota 28 Travis Kvapil Yates Racing Ford 34 Jeff Green Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 37 Kenny Wallace Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 38 David Gilliland Yates Racing Ford 41 Reed Sorenson Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 46 Carl Long Carl Long Racing Dodge 49 Chad McCumbee Petty Enterprises Dodge 50 Stanton Barrett SKI Motorsports Chevrolet 55 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 66 Scott Riggs Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 70 Johnny Sauter Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 77 Sam Hornish Jr. (R) Penske Racing South Dodge 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 83 Brian Vickers Team Red Bull Toyota 84 A. J. Allmendinger Team Red Bull Toyota 96 J. J. Yeley Hall of Fame Racing Toyota

All-Star Race #DriverTeamMake 1 Martin Truex Jr. Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 2 Kurt Busch Penske Racing South Dodge 5 Casey Mears Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 07 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 8 Mark Martin Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing South Dodge 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 Jamie McMurray Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 43 Bobby Labonte Petty Enterprises Dodge 44 Dale Jarrett Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford

Race format Sprint Showdown The teams that had not qualified for the All-Star Race were in a 40-lap race divided into two "halves" (two 20-lap segments) with a five lap break to allow for teams to have the option to make a pit stop. The top two drivers from this race, along with a fan ballot that selected the third (from the internet, Sprint cellular phone subscribers, Sprint retail locations, and on-site fan voting up to that night) among those on the lead lap and in the Top 50 in driver points will qualify for the main event. The cell phone votes counted double those of the other methods. Qualifying was the standard NASCAR two-lap event, with the fastest lap counting, and Elliott Sadler winning said pole. However, during the first segment, Sadler was knocked out of the race when A. J. Allmendinger bumped him high into the Turn Two wall, and Allmendinger and Sam Hornish Jr. automatically qualified, while Kasey Kahne won the fan vote.

Sprint All-Star Race XXIV The race format of four "quarters" (like football or professional basketball) was slightly modified this season. In Sprint All-Star Race XXIII, the quarters were 20 laps each. This year, as announced at NASCAR's Media Tour, five laps were added to each segment to have a total of 100 laps (or four 25-lap quarters) in the race. The remainder of the race format, adopted the previous year, went unchanged. Qualifying for this race was a three lap cumulative timed event with a mandatory four tire pit stop arriving at the pit road speed of 45 MPH but leaving as full throttle after either the first or second qualifying lap. Kyle Busch took advantage of numerous miscues by others (including penalties for speed violations or loose lug nuts) to win the pole position. Kasey Kahne became the first to qualify from the fan vote to win, only taking a splash of gas to dominate the final quarter which, along with the rest of the race, went caution-free.

Qualifying Showdown Pos.#DriverTeamMake 1 19 Elliott Sadler Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 2 83 Brian Vickers Team Red Bull Toyota 3 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 4 84 A. J. Allmendinger Team Red Bull Toyota 5 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 6 22 Dave Blaney Bill Davis Racing Toyota 7 78 Joe Nemechek Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 8 77 Sam Hornish Jr. (R) Penske Racing South Dodge 9 66 Scott Riggs Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 10 28 Travis Kvapil Yates Racing Ford 11 70 Johnny Sauter Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 12 15 Paul Menard Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 13 41 Reed Sorenson Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 14 55 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 15 9 Kasey Kahne Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 16 38 David Gilliland Yates Racing Ford 17 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 18 49 Chad McCumbee Petty Enterprises Dodge 19 50 Stanton Barrett SKI Motorsports Chevrolet 20 96 J. J. Yeley Hall of Fame Racing Toyota 21 21 Bill Elliott Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 23 01 Regan Smith (R) Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 24 08 Tony Raines E&M Motorsports Dodge 25 34 Jeff Green Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 26 46 Carl Long Carl Long Racing Dodge 27 10 Patrick Carpentier (R) Gillett Evernham Motorsports DodgeWithdrew WD 37 Kenny Wallace Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet

All-Star Race Pos.#DriverTeamMake 1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3 2 Kurt Busch Penske Racing South Dodge 4 1 Martin Truex Jr. Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 5 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 6 26 Jamie McMurray Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 8 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing South Dodge 9 07 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 10 43 Bobby Labonte Petty Enterprises Dodge 11 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 12 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 13 8 Mark Martin Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 14 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 15 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 16 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 17 5 Casey Mears Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 18 44 Dale Jarrett Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 19 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 20 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22 84 A. J. Allmendinger* Team Red Bull Toyota 23 77 Sam Hornish Jr. (R)* Penske Racing South Dodge 24 9 Kasey Kahne** Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge

* - Finished top two in the Showdown

** - Fan vote winner

Race results Showdown Pos.#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatus 1 84 A. J. Allmendinger Team Red Bull Toyota 40 21 running 2 77 Sam Hornish Jr. (R) Penske Racing South Dodge 40 0 running 3 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 40 0 running 4 83 Brian Vickers Team Red Bull Toyota 40 19 running 5 9 Kasey Kahne Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 40 0 running 6 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 40 0 running 7 38 David Gilliland Yates Racing Ford 40 0 running 8 28 Travis Kvapil Yates Racing Ford 40 0 running 9 96 J. J. Yeley Hall of Fame Racing Toyota 40 0 running 10 22 Dave Blaney Bill Davis Racing Toyota 40 0 running 11 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 40 0 running 12 41 Reed Sorenson Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 40 0 running 13 49 Chad McCumbee Petty Enterprises Dodge 40 0 running 14 66 Scott Riggs Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 40 0 running 15 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 40 0 running 16 15 Paul Menard Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 40 0 running 17 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 40 0 running 18 34 Jeff Green Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 40 0 running 19 21 Bill Elliott Wood Brothers Racing Ford 40 0 running 20 55 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 40 0 running 21 01 Regan Smith (R) Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 40 0 running 22 46 Carl Long Carl Long Racing Dodge 40 0 running 23 08 Tony Raines E&M Motorsports Dodge 29 0 running 24 70 Johnny Sauter Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 27 0 crash 25 50 Stanton Barrett SKI Motorsports Chevrolet 14 0 vibration 26 19 Elliott Sadler Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 6 0 crash 27 10 Patrick Carpentier (R) Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 2 0 crash

All-Star Race