If you are a fan of NASCAR, the Charlotte area must be heaven for the next week.

The NASCAR All-Star weekend started with a pit crew challenge Thursday night at the Time Warner Arena in Charlotte and will conclude with the All-Star race tonight at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord.

Then it’s all back to business as the teams prepare for the longest race on its schedule, the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24.

To casual NASCAR fans, which includes me, the All-Star race is the perfect way to reel in new fans.

I remember watching the late Davey Allison go all out for the win in 1992 despite the fact the All-Star race means nothing in the points championship race. Allison won, what was then called “The Winston,” but slammed into the wall right passed the checkered flag.

Allison was locked up in a battle with Kyle Petty and Dale Earnhardt after Darrell Waltrip spun out bringing out a caution flag on lap 63.

Petty was in front after the restart, but Earnhardt, in his typical fashion, made a quick move and took the lead, as Allison was stuck in third. Petty was able to recover and attempted to retake the lead with four laps remaining. The pair would continue to battle each other, until Earnhardt lost control of his car and crashed on the final lap.

As Earnhardt wrecked, Petty eased off the gas just enough to allow Allison to catch up. Allison and Petty refused to give an inch to each other as the pair came flying out of turn four. Allison was able to ease past Petty to win by half a car length.

Allison slammed into the wall and was removed from his vehicle by rescue workers and fitted with a neck brace. Allison ended up spending the night at an area hospital before being released the next day with bruised legs and a bruised lung.

According to car owner Robert Yates, Allison didn’t know he ended up with victory.

“He didn’t know who had won the race until we told him,” Yates said.

Bruised legs and a bruised lung for a meaningless race? Count me as a fan.

The All-Star race is where drivers take chances they normally wouldn’t make. In a points race, it’s better to finish the race in 15th position, than take a chance and battle for the front, crash and end up 30th.

To be honest, sometimes watching drivers be cautious going around the track just collecting points and protecting their points position is like watching a football team take a knee early in the fourth quarter.

While I’m not supporting the Ricky Bobby philosophy of “If you’re not first, you’re last,” there does have to be a little fire in the belly.

Sometimes the driver is doing all he can to keep the car out of the wall, but this can’t be the case all the time.

As a casual fan, all I ask for is a little racing in racin’.