Learn more about the formats of the Sprint Showdown and Sprint All-Star Race

RELATED: Sign up for RaceView today

What: 30th-annual NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway
When: Saturday, May 17, 2014
TV/Radio:
FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance:
20 laps / 20 laps / 20 laps / 20 laps / 10 laps (135 miles)
Time:
9:20 p.m. ET; qualifying at 7:20 p.m. ET

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

Latest news
Standings
Schedule

Fastest in practice
Lone practice: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet (193.562 mph)

From pole to Victory Lane
The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race has been won from the pole position four times: Dale Earnhardt (1990), Davey Allison (1991 and 1992), Kurt Busch (2010).

Seeking a three-peat
Jimmie Johnson became the first driver to win four NASCAR Sprint All-Star Races last year, and he seeks to become the first driver to win three consecutive all-star events. Last year, Johnson joined Davey Allison as the only other driver to score back-to-back victories (1991-92).

Transfers from the Sprint Showdown
Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip Racing No. 15 Toyota, and AJ Allmendinger, JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Chevrolet, finished 1st and 2nd in Friday’s Sprint Showdown to advance to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

Josh Wise, Phil Parsons Racing No. 98 Ford, earned the Sprint Fan Vote to make his first career start in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. In 2008, Kasey Kahne became the first and only driver to get into the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race by the Sprint Fan Vote and go on to win the event.

Youth vs. experience
Jeff Gordon is the youngest winner of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at 23 years, 9 months and 18 days (1995). Mark Martin is the oldest at 46 years, 4 months and 12 days (2005). .

Former NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race winners in field
Jimmie Johnson (4); Jeff Gordon (3); Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart (1).

Field breakdown
Drivers who meet the following criteria are eligible for the 2014 Sprint All-Star Race:

· Drivers who have won races in the current and preceding year. (Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, David Ragan, Martin Truex Jr., Brian Vickers) If a driver leaves a team with which he/she has won a race, the driver remains eligible (through the last race before the All-Star Race), the former team does not.

· Drivers who are past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions in the last 10 years.

· Drivers who have won the All-Star Race in the past 10 years.

· The winning driver of the Sprint Showdown. (Clint Bowyer)

· The runner-up in the Sprint Showdown. (AJ Allmendinger)

· The driver who is voted in by fans by the Sprint Fan Vote. (Josh Wise)

Unique qualifying
The starting lineup for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race will be determined by time trials consisting on three laps including a four-tire pit stop. The total time will determine the lineup. 

Race format
The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race consists of five segments with the first four segments consisting of 20 laps each and the final segment consisting of 10 laps. 

Following the first three segments, there are optional pit stops and five caution laps. The field will be set by pit stop/stay out track position after each of the first three segments. Following the fourth segment, the running order will be repositioned based on the average finish for the first four segments prior to pit road opening for the mandatory four-tire pit stop. The order of cars returning to the track will determine the order for the fifth and final segment. The running order ties will be broken by the finish of the fourth segment.

The final fifth segment is winner take all for the $1 million winner’s payday. 

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView

Seventh-place finish at Kansas was Patrick’s best in 57 Sprint Cup Series starts

CONCORD, N.C. — A week removed from a career-best finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Danica Patrick says that her Stewart-Haas Racing team has "to keep our expectation levels in check just a little bit."
 
"And that we don’t just go out there and expect to run in the top five or 10 every single time now," she said following practice for Friday night’s Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "We have to remember that there is a process to it."
 
Patrick finished seventh in last week’s race at Kansas Speedway for her second top-10 in 57 Cup starts. It was the fourth-best finish by a female in NASCAR, trailing only a fifth-place run by Sara Christian (1949) and sixth-place results by Christian in ’49 and Janet Guthrie (’77).
 
That she ran among the top 10 drivers for the majority of the race, at one point climbing as high as third, was perhaps more impressive than the final result.

"We skipped over top-15s and went right to top-10," Patrick said of her Kansas run. "Shoot, we pretty much skipped over top-20s — I didn’t have many of those, either.
 
"We have to keep improving and keep getting in the thick of the good drivers, move up like that. It definitely gives confidence, definitely is a good sign and (it’s) definitely good to have those races. We just hope to have them more often."
 
The expectations of others, she said, "aren’t important to me."
 
"They don’t affect me. They don’t make me go any faster … and they don’t make me go any slower."
 
Statistically, there’s little difference in Patrick’s results from a year ago, when she was 28th after 11 races with one top-10 finish. She will enter next week’s Coca-Cola 600 27th in points, again with one top-10. But the Kansas effort clearly showed what Patrick and the No. 10 team, headed by veteran crew chief Tony Gibson, can accomplish.
 
Her teammates at SHR have produced mixed results this season. Kevin Harvick is a two-time race winner while Kurt Busch has a single victory. But consistency has been difficult to maintain — Harvick sits 15th in points while Busch is 28th.
 
Team co-owner/driver Tony Stewart, after missing the final 15 races of 2013, is 22nd in the standings.
 
"I feel like I’m feeling the car better and better," Patrick said, "but I don’t think it was a light switch (moment) for me. It was just a weekend that so many good things happened in the race and we ran with such good cars and passed such good cars that for me it gives me confidence, for sure.
 
"Like I said, I’ve always believed I can do that, but when you’re head-to-head with guys like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jr. … then it’s another story on it’s own.
 
"I think that if we keep doing what we’re doing and keep our heads down and not get flustered; not every single weekend is going to be like that for anyone. But we’ll have more of those, for sure."

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView

Keselowski still seeks a Truck Series win in his career

CONCORD, N.C. – Brad Keselowski finished third in his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start of the season.

He nearly wound up on the back end of a wrecker.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

Latest news
Standings
Schedule

Keselowski was fourth when Ron Hornaday Jr., running second behind leader Kyle Busch, spun after a restart just past the halfway point of the 137-lap North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

"We got into him," Keselowski said afterward, "but I don’t think it did any significant damage.

"It got our attention and made us worry but … I think that didn’t have much of an effect on us. But it was really cool looking."

Ryan Blaney, Keselowski’s teammate, wasn’t as fortunate – his night ended on Lap 105 following contact with John Wes Townley.

Blaney was not injured, and said afterward he’d "like to know what (Townley) was thinking."

It was the second consecutive week Blaney had been caught up in an accident. He dropped three positions, to ninth, as a result of Friday night’s incident.

"I was behind it but I can’t say I was studying it," Keselowski said of Blaney’s crash. "No one knows what happened except the drivers that were in the seat.

"It looked like Ryan tried to make a move and whether the 5 (of Townley) turned down or there wasn’t a hole there I’m not sure. …

"Obviously disappointed that we tore up a truck. That’s not going to win a championship and I think the pieces are there to run with Matt (Crafton) and the other guys week after week. But you have to finish up front and getting the finishes you deserve. Being out of a race with a wreck isn’t going to get that. That’s basically what I saw."

Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion, fields two NCWTS teams – the No. 29 for Blaney as well as the No. 19 that has several drivers scheduled for seat time.

While he has 11 wins in Cup and 28 in the Nationwide Series, Keselowski is still searching for his first Truck Series win.

"We’re close," he said. "Every time I get in it I feel like we run second or third if I don’t screw it up. We can’t seem to get over the hurdle."

The hurdle Friday night was Busch, race winner for the sixth time at Charlotte and the 38th time in his career. Busch led 130 of the 134 laps.

"I think Kyle was probably in a class of his own – we’ve seen that the past couple of weeks on these mile and a halves," he said. "So we’ve got work to do, still. But we were decent. I think there were a lot of trucks that were close to the same – (Hornaday) looked good, (Ben Kennedy), obviously Matt (Crafton) looked good. The 5 truck (of Townley) looked good. But we were all probably about the same. It would have been a great race if Kyle wasn’t here.

"We need just a little bit more to run with him; they’ve definitely got the package figured out. I’m proud of my group but we’ve got more work to do."

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView

Brian Vickers rolls off first in special qualifying session, including a pit stop

# Car Driver Team
1 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
2 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops Tracker Boats Chevrolet
3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet
4 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford
5 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota
7 31 Ryan Newman CAT/Quicken Loans Chevrolet
8 5 Kasey Kahne Time Warner Cable Chevrolet
9 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
10 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford
11 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Chevrolet
12 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota
13 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet
14 20 Matt Kenseth Home Depot Husky Toyota
15 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet
16 4 Kevin Harvick Hunt Brother’s Pizza Chevrolet
17 99 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford
18 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet
19 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford
20 Sprint Showdown Winner Clint Bowyer Charter Toyota
21 Sprint Showdown 2nd AJ Allmendinger Freightliner-Miller Welders Chevrolet
22 Sprint Fan Vote Winner Josh Wise Dogecoin/Reddit.com

* Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView

Quiroga rolls off last in Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, Friday at 5:40 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1

    Track Qualifying Record: Mike Skinner, 05/20/05, 29.5 sec/183.051 mph
# Trk Driver Team
1 63 Justin Jennings Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool Chevrolet
2 0 * Willie Allen Grimes Irrigation & Construction Chevrolet
3 98 Johnny Sauter Nextant Aerospace/Curb Records Toyota
4 42 * Charles Lewandoski Randco/Young’s Building Systems Chevrolet
5 20 Austin Dillon(i) Ranch Hand Chevrolet
6 82 * Jake Crum My Freedom Smokes Chevrolet
7 9 Justin Lofton Gunbroker.com Chevrolet
8 88 Matt Crafton Hormel/Menards Toyota
9 57 Norm Benning Grabiak Performance Center/Watts Truck Center Chevrolet
10 5 John Wes Townley Zaxby’s Toyota
11 99 Bryan Silas PBG/Bell Trucks America Inc. Chevrolet
12 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb RobbyWells2016.com Chevrolet
13 21 Joey Coulter Allegiant Travel Chevrolet
14 23 * Max Gresham AmWinsGroup, LLC Chevrolet
15 35 Mason Mingus # Mad Vapes/Call 811 Toyota
16 92 * Scott Riggs BTS Tire/Thrifty Tire/Goodyear Fleet HQ/Wynns Ford
17 29 Ryan Blaney Cooper Standard Careers for Veterans Ford
18 07 * J. J. Yeley Thunder Exhaust Chevrolet
19 8 Joe Nemechek MD Anderson Cancer Center/Smoke-N-Sear Toyota
20 50 T. J. Bell Electric Linemen Chevrolet
21 13 Jeb Burton Carolina Nut Co. Toyota
22 19 Brad Keselowski(i) DrawTite Ford
23 30 Ron Hornaday Jr. Rheem Chevrolet
24 7 Brian Ickler Bullet Liner Toyota
25 54 Darrell Wallace Jr. Toyota Time Sales Event Toyota
26 32 Tayler Malsam Outerwall Chevrolet
27 08 Jimmy Weller III # JoeDance.org/Liberty Steel Chevrolet
28 02 * Tyler Young AKL Insurance Group/Young’s Building Systems Chevrolet
29 28 * Ryan Ellis(i) Endo Optiks/FDNY Racing Chevrolet
30 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota
31 31 Ben Kennedy # ALS Association Chevrolet
32 51 Kyle Busch(i) Hiring Our Heroes/Toyota Care Toyota
33 77 German Quiroga OtterBox Toyota

* Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView

Kyle Busch will lead off the start of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200

Entry No. Driver Sponsor
1 51 Kyle Busch(i) Hiring Our Heroes/Toyota Care Toyota
2 88 Matt Crafton Hormel/Menards Toyota
3 19 Brad Keselowski(i) DrawTite Ford
4 30 Ron Hornaday Jr. Rheem Chevrolet
5 7 Brian Ickler Bullet Liner Toyota
6 31 Ben Kennedy # ALS Association Chevrolet
7 98 Johnny Sauter Nextant Aerospace/Curb Records Toyota
8 13 Jeb Burton Carolina Nut Co. Toyota
9 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota
10 29 Ryan Blaney Cooper Standard Careers for Veterans Ford
11 54 Darrell Wallace Jr. Toyota Time Sales Event Toyota
12 23 Max Gresham AmWinsGroup, LLC Chevrolet
13 20 Austin Dillon(i) Ranch Hand Chevrolet
14 9 Justin Lofton Gunbroker.com Chevrolet
15 5 John Wes Townley Zaxby’s Toyota
16 8 Joe Nemechek MDAndrsnCncrCntr/SmkNSr Toyota
17 21 Joey Coulter Allegiant Travel Chevrolet
18 92 Scott Riggs BTSTire/ThriftyTire/GdyrFleetHQ/Wynns Ford
19 32 Tayler Malsam Outerwall Chevrolet
20 77 German Quiroga OtterBox Toyota
21 82 Jake Crum My Freedom Smokes Chevrolet
22 35 Mason Mingus # Mad Vapes/Call 811 Toyota
23 02 Tyler Young AKLInsrnceGrp/YngsBldingSystms Chev
24 07 JJ Yeley Thunder Exhaust Chevrolet
25 08 Jimmy Weller III # JoeDance.org/Liberty Steel Chevrolet
26 99 Bryan Silas PBG/Bell Trucks America Inc. Chevrolet
27 50 TJ Bell Electric Linemen Chevrolet
28 28 Ryan Ellis(i) Endo Optiks/FDNY Racing Chevrolet
29 42 Charles Lewandoski Randco/Young’s Building Systems Chevrolet
30 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb RobbyWells2016.com Chevrolet
31 63 Justin Jennings Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool Chevrolet
32 0 Willie Allen Grimes Irrigation & Construction Chevrolet
33 57 Norm Benning GrabiakPerfCntr/WattsTrckCntr Chev

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

Latest news
Standings
Schedule

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView

See where drivers will line up on pit road for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200

The pit stall assignments are out for Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series North Carolina Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1).

Kyle Busch, who won the pole for the event, has the pit stall closest to the pit road exit.

In addition to Busch, Matt Crafton, Brad Keselowski, Ron Hornaday Jr., Brian Ickler, Ben Kennedy, Jeb Burton, Austin Dillon, Joe Nemecheck and Tayler Malsam all chose pit stalls with empty space in front of them.

Mason Mingus chose the first pit stall onto pit road.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

Latest news
Standings
Schedule

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView

Danica Patrick rolls off first in quest for top starting spot to make Sprint All-Star Race

    Track Qualifying Record: Denny Hamlin , 05/26/13, 27.604 sec./195.624 mph
# Car Driver Team
1 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Cares Chevrolet
2 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford
3 47 A. J. Allmendinger Freightliner/Miller Welders Chevrolet
4 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Building For America’s Bravest Ford
5 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
6 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota
7 66 Joe Nemechek(i) Land Castle Title Toyota
8 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet
9 32 Blake Koch(i) Supportmilitary.org Ford
10 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet
11 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet
12 33 David Stremme Little Joe’s Autos Chevrolet
13 27 Paul Menard Serta/Menards Chevrolet
14 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota
15 44 J. J. Yeley Phoenix Warehouse Chevrolet
16 98 Josh Wise Dogecoin/Reddit.com Chevrolet
17 38 David Gilliland Love’s Ford
18 77 Dave Blaney Ford
19 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford
20 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet
21 15 Clint Bowyer Charter Toyota
22 26 Cole Whitt # Speed Stick GEAR Toyota
23 40 Landon Cassill(i) Hillman Racing Chevrolet

* Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView

Ty Dillon is currently sitting fifth in the Nationwide Series standings

RELATED: Play NASCAR Fantasy Live

NEWTON, Iowa — Ty Dillon has watched from afar as his contemporaries have notched NASCAR Nationwide Series victories this season.

There was Regan Smith winning the season-opening event at Daytona. There was fellow Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Chase Elliott going back-to-back with victories at Texas and Darlington. And most recently, there was Elliott Sadler avoiding the wreckage to win at Talladega.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

A win by a Nationwide Series regular grants the victor access into sort of an exclusive club, like gaining membership into the Elks Lodge. And Dillon is sick of watching from the outside. He wants to break down the door. 

"I’m ready for it for sure," Dillon said following Friday’s three-hour first practice at Iowa Speedway. "I know our guys are working hard to get better and better every week. We just have to put a full race together, start getting a little more consistent in our top-fives. But it’s time for us to win a race. And there’s no better place to do it than Iowa." 

The Richard Childress Racing driver, currently fifth in the points standings, called Iowa the one track where he’s logged more laps than anywhere else on the circuit. And yet, he’s never started a Nationwide Series race here at the 0.875-mile oval. But he does have three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts to his credit, plus a litany of laps in other, smaller series. 

A breakthrough in the same equipment Ty’s brother, Austin, used to record a runner-up finish here last year could set forth a trend, too. 

Last year, three different Nationwide Series regulars combined for four total wins in all of 2013 — a span of 33 races. Those numbers have already been matched this year. And Sunday’s Get to Know Newton 250 presented by Sherwin-Williams serves as the first stand-alone event of the season, so there are plenty of opportunities forthcoming to nab victories with not many — if any — Sprint Cup Series drivers moonlighting in the field. 

"I think we kind of unloaded with what we know works here, what Austin has run really well here, that was kind of our baseline setup," Ty Dillon said of his Sunday chances. "We made a couple of runs, kind of tuned it in and we’ll keep working on it. 

"Now, it’s time for us to get in Victory Lane. I feel like our team’s ready for it."

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView

Gifford will be running two Nationwide Series races this season

RELATED: More about Ryan Gifford | Play NASCAR Fantasy Live

NEWTON, Iowa — Ryan Gifford strode into the media center at Iowa Speedway in his blue driver suit and a baseball cap he wore backward. When he flipped it forward, the number there — 34 — didn’t match the No. 98 of his car that he’ll pilot in Sunday’s Get to Know Newton 250 presented by Sherwin-Williams. 

The reason soon became obvious.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

A member of the NASCAR Next Class of 2014 and a graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity initiative, Gifford understands he has a tremendous opportunity this weekend when he competes in his second career NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

It’s partly because of that No. 34, Gifford says, that allows him to be in this position. The 34 is for Wendell Scott, the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR national series race. Gifford also affixed a Wendell Scott decal to his Nationwide Series and K&N Pro Series cars and spoke passionately about the upcoming Hall of Fame vote (fans can vote until noon ET on May 20). 

"We’re getting to the final days of the vote for the NASCAR Hall of Fame and I want to encourage everyone to vote for Wendell Scott," Gifford said after Friday’s first practice. "For me, as a Drive for Diversity driver and an African-American in this sport, he did a lot for me to get to this point. I think it’s really significant to see him make it into the Hall of Fame. 

"It’s something that means a lot to me. Not only the fact that he won a Cup race, but he raced kind of like I grew up racing. He had to work on his own stuff. He wasn’t fully funded. He worked really hard to get what he had."

Gifford has worked hard, too, throughout his racing career — hard enough to earn two Nationwide Series starts in 2014. Sunday will be the first. He finished ninth at Iowa last fall in the first Nationwide Series race of his life. 

It’s an event he still holds in his mind, one he’s mentally replayed more frequently as the first stand-alone of the year drew closer. 

"The main thing was, I was blown away at how good everybody was," he said with a laugh. "Every single person out here in the Nationwide Series is a really, really good driver. Everybody is tough to pass. You don’t get any freebies." 

No, you don’t. Yet there was Gifford as the race wound down, slowly slicing his way through the field, going from 16th on Lap 120 to 12th by Lap 225. At the end of the 250th and final lap, he was ninth.

It was a result that led to this most recent chance to pilot a Nationwide Series car. One opportunity leads to another, and Gifford knows that another strong showing Sunday might lead to one more down the road.

"Taking nine months off from a Nationwide car, we’re definitely having to relearn a lot," Gifford said. "But for sure, you’ve got to look at this like a job interview. I’m competitive — any laps you take as a driver is a job interview. You have to go out there and give your best every time on the race track, no matter if you have a three-year deal or a one-race deal."

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView