Toyota All-Star Showdown

The Elite Division drivers will be making their final appearance in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway this weekend. NASCAR will eliminate the Elite Division from its developmental ranks after this season.
In its fourth year of existence, the All-Star Showdown brought together the top-40 drivers from the four regional Elite Divisions for a race and a chance to win a part of the $500,000 purse.
Rip Michels, a driver from San Fernando and the Southwest Series champion, said he isn't approaching the Showdown any differently than in the past.
He is making his third start in the Showdown and his first as Southwest Series champion.
But he said the motivating factor to do well will be because the race is televised on Speed, not because it's the last Elite Division Showdown race.
"I'm not looking at it that way," Michels said. "It's the only race everyone watches live."
By everyone, Michels means the drivers from the NASCAR Busch Series and Nextel Cup Series who have moved on from the Elite Division ranks over the years.
David Gilliland, a driver for Robert Yates Racing at the Nextel Cup Series level, won the Grand National Division Showdown in 2005. Auggie Vidovich and Burney Lamar, drivers in the Busch Series, have participated in the Showdown in the past. Vidovich won the Elite Division Showdown in 2005.
Michels said he's more concerned about putting on a good show for those drivers than it is to win the race, the last Elite Division Showdown.
"That's the biggest motivation," Michels said.