FANS HAVE SAY IN ALL-STAR RACE.

Byline: Tim Haddock Staff Writer

It looks like fans will have a say in who races in Saturday's NASCAR Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge after all.

Two-time NASCAR Winston West champion Brendan Gaughan, former Hollywood stuntman Stanton Barrett and Bakersfield's Casey Mears are on a ballot. Fans can vote on www.NASCAR.com or by Nextel cell phones.

For the first time in the history of NASCAR's all-star race, which will be run at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., fans will be able to choose one driver to compete. The voting started May 13 and will end after the first segment of the all-star race.

``NASCAR fans are always looking for ways to get closer to the sport and doing that with our products and technology is one of our core NASCAR sponsorship objectives,'' said Mark Schweitzer, senior vice president of marketing for Nextel, in a statement. ``This is a great opportunity for fans to show their driver loyalty and not just watch the race but have a voice in which driver moves on to the All-Star Challenge.''

Unlike other sports, in which fans can vote in their favorite players, NASCAR makes its stars win their way into the all-star field. Sometimes, even after winning the approval of fans, athletes in other sports opt out of playing. It's hard to remember an NFL Pro Bowl that actually fielded players voted in by fans. NASCAR fans aren't deciding the starting lineup.