And the winner is....

Denny Hamlin's #11 FedEx pit crew. Darn. I was pulling for Kurt Busch's crew.

Now, before you say, "We thought you were a Tony Stewart fan," let me explain.

As a Sprint customer and since Sprint sponsors the Cup series, you can randomly receive certain perks. Last year, I went to Victory Lane after the All-Star Race, with Kurt Busch.

This year, it was being an honorary pit crew member for, yep, Kurt Busch!

The Pit Crew Challenge is a great part of the All-Star Week in Charlotte. The men you only see on race day get the chance to shine, while their driver, crew chief and sponsors cheer them on, along with several thousand fans.

As honorary crew member, you get to wear a team shirt, stand on the platform at the finish line and cheer your lungs out.

Joining me on the stand were James Beery of Charlotte and Kurt's Crew Chief, Steve Addington.

There were lots of drivers and crew chiefs there. Tony was there, as was teammate Ryan Newman. Chad Knaus was there. Five-time wasn't. AJ Almendinger was there, Matt Kenseth, too. Oh, and Junior. Junior was there and the fans went wild.



First up was the crew of #21 Trevor Bayne. History. Next, brother Kyle. Smoked him. Then came defending Pit Crew Challenge winners, #11 Denny Hamlin. Oh, well. At least he took out Kyle.

Back to the honorary thing. Sprint allows customers to take on the challenge of cheering. They actually pick them at random when you visit their table. My friends had already been tapped to shout for AJ Almeninger. I walked up late and was disappointed I wasn't getting to do that, too. "And I've been a Sprint customer for six years. Darn." Here's where James comes in.

He was already tagged for Kurt, but didn't have a partner. Waiting beside my friends to go to their assigned seats on the floor of the arena, he asked if I wanted to be on his team. Absolutely!

Now, this was a real honor. I'd never met him before. During the course of the evening, I discovered his wife passed away earlier in the year, and the Pit Crew Challenge was her favorite activity of All-Star Week. It was his first time there without her.

He didn't have to ask if I'd be on the team. He could have ignored what I said and gone on. No one would have blamed him.

This is what's so great about NASCAR fans. They are kind, generous and friendly.

That's one of the things I like about the sport.

So, Thanks, James. It was an honor.