Chasing the cash at Charlotte.

By Andrew Charman

You would think that with 36 championship rounds competitors in the NASCAR Nextel Cup would not want to do any more racing, but this weekend they will all congregate at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte North Carolina, known as the home of NASCAR, for a race that offers no points at all.

What the Nextel All-Star Challenge does offer, however, is a fistful of money. It used to be known as the Winston Million, basically because that's what it paid out. With telecommunications giant Nextel taking over title sponsorship of NASCAR's top division for this year the race needed a new name, but it also gained some changes, not least to its prize fund. Including its Nextel Open support race this weekend's extravaganza will pay a total of $4.1 million.

The Challenge is not open to everyone - those eligible comprise drivers who have won a Nextel Cup race in 2003 or 2004, and past champions, even if they haven't qualified by winning a race. For this year's race that serves up 23 starters, but an indication of how the rules are tweaked to suit the occasion is the fact that those 23 include this year's star rookie Kasey Kahne. He hasn't won a race yet, but his #9 Dodge did last year, in the hands of Bill Elliott. Bill's no longer a Nextel regular, so Kasey gets the spot.

Actually, 25 cars will take the start on Saturday night. The 24th will come from the winner of the Nextel Open, staged before the Challenge for everyone in this year's field who hasn't got in to the big race. And the final spot will depend on people power - it will be filled by the non-qualified driver who gets the most fan votes on NASCAR's official website.

Of course the Nextel All-Star Challenge is no ordinary race even once the green flag flies. It's run in three segments of 40 laps, 30 laps then 20 laps. Between lap 10 and 35 of segment one all the cars have to make a pitstop and change four tyres. At the end of segment one there's a 10-minute break during which the starting order for segment two is drawn . Between two and three, there will be a yellow-flag period during which teams can pit, but they'll have to start at the back of the queue. Got all that?

So who will win? Well it's a bit of a lottery, but if I had to put money down I'd say Jeff Gordon. The pilot of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet is on awesome form at present, and he has a habit of getting it right on the big occasions - he's been a Charlotte millionaire before...

Whatever happens they'll all be back in Charlotte a week later for the Nextel Cup's longest race - the Coca Cola 600, under the lights. Gentlemen start your engines...