When I went to the NHL All-Star Game earlier this year, it was evident the minute the puck dropped that the contest was, for the most part, meaningless.

The players leisurely skated across the frozen pond, never made any real contact and checked defense at the door.

Even the Major League All-Star Game, which now has home field advantage for the World Series on the line, is played at three-quarters speed.

And the NBA All-Star Game? It’s a pick-up affair.

Basically, when the biggest names of a sport come together for such an event, it’s simply a chance for fans to star gaze.

NASCAR’s all-star event is different. While there are no Sprint Cup points on the line, this is a race that is run as hard as any on the schedule — maybe even harder.

“You’ve got to realize that every weekend that we’re out there racing, we want to win,” said Jeff Gordon, who has won the event three times. “We want to get the best finish we can. But we have to consider points and think about the big picture. Especially with the Chase now. You’ve got to get yourself into that chase in order to be a threat for the championship. So when you have (the all-star race), there’s no points on the line, and, you know, it’s all about the prestige and history and excitement about that event.

“It’s all for the fans. You know, it’s about putting on a great show for the fans. And to do that, you’re going to push harder, take chances and do things that you wouldn’t normally do. Because you know if you come out of there with a wrecked race car or a bad finish, it’s really not going to affect you.”

The race is divided into four 25-lap segments, and this year the winner’s purse is $1,012,975. Eligible drivers are race winners from the 2007 and 2008 seasons; past champions of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (from previous 10 seasons); the top two finishers in NASCAR Sprint Showdown race; and the top vote-getter in the NASCAR Sprint Fan Vote who also finishes on lead lap of the Showdown race.

For Gordon, a win would make him the all-time victor in the all-star event, breaking a tie with Dale Earnhardt.

“To know that we have won it three times in the past really means a lot,” Gordon said. “Those have all been very special occasions and events for me to be a part of in the past, and to do anything that Dale Earnhardt’s done and to be in that same category certainly makes it even more special. We would love to get another one. I never really look at events as stats and trying to break records. I look at it as a race that we want to win badly, and it’s the next race on the schedule.

“Hopefully we can pull it off.”

Regardless of who wins or who wrecks (are you listening Kyle Busch?), Saturday night’s race will almost certainly be a cut above the all-star contests that take place in other sports.

With all the tweaking that NASCAR has done to its series in the past few years — not a lot of it good, in my opinion — it’s nice to see the all-star race has actually gotten better.

Watch it. It’s going to be one heckuva show.