I don't care,' " McMurray said. "I could see the million bucks."

Though McMurray has only eight career wins – including Saturday night's exhibition race – some of them include the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and now the All-Star Race.

"It's one of those memories I hope I never forget," McMurray said of racing side-by-side with Edwards in the final segment of the race. "It's what we wake up every single day and live for – is to be put in that exact position. It's really awesome."

Crew chief Keith Rodden, in his first year in the role after serving as Kasey Kahne's longtime engineer, said McMurray "drove amazing."

In the meantime, the driver's portion of the $1 million will go toward the college funds for his two young children and athird on the way, McMurray said. He started thinking about the money when he realized he would start the fifth and final segment on the front row.

"I can't explain to you how unbelievable that is to hold a check up for that much money," said McMurray, who acknowledged being buzzed off a large bottle of champagne during his post-race interviews.

Edwards, who finished fifth after coming off pit road with the lead, said McMurray drove "perfect" on the final restart.

"My hat is off to him," Edwards said. "He did a great job. He earned it. I drove as hard as I could while he was on the outside and he gave me just the right amount of room to not wreck me, but still beat me. … It's a