CONCORD, N.C. — Five drivers have raced their way into the Sprint All-Star Race and a chance at a million dollars.
Trevor Bayne, Greg Biffle and Kyle Larson raced their way into the main event by winning one of the three segments in the Sprint Showdown. Danica Patrick and Chase Elliott were voted by fans into the All-Star Race.
Bayne got an excellent restart with one lap to go in segment 1, split Elliott and Ryan Blaney and took the lead to make his way into his second All-Star Race start.
“That was pretty cool,” Bayne said. “That takes me back to Texas in 2011 in the XFINITY race when I restarted fourth and pushed Carl out before winning the race. I was thinking about what I could do and I timed the restart really good and got right to the 21’s bumper at the line and was able to get three-wide off of turn two. The car was pretty good there. In clean air I was alright. I was a little concerned with dirty air, but I got a run and went through the middle. It was a little sketchy squeezing through that hole, but it worked.”
Biffle made his way into his 13th All-Star Race start, in part, by taking two tires during the first segment break.
“Brian Pattie is a very, very smart veteran crew chief in this sport and it was his call,” Biffle said. “I was skeptical of it, trust me, but I tell you what, what really made the difference was we made a chassis adjustment, two left side tires, the car was really fast the last single lap that we made under green and I was able to pass four cars in one lap. Then we came down and the guys ripped off a great two-tire stop like a lot of other cars did and got us out third. Really, that’s what did it. I was being as aggressive as I could be, and I knew it was 20 laps and I knew that was my chance. The 3 car was a little bit loose and so was I, but I made some adjustments on my driving style and was able to get by him.”
Bayne and Biffle making their way in ensured that a Roush Fenway Racing Ford made the All-Star Race for the 27th consecutive year.
Larson edged out Elliott coming to the line in the final segment to advance to his first All-Star Race start.
“Chase got to my inside there with 2 (laps) to go and I was able to run him pretty hard there and get him loose and was hoping I could hold him off to the checkered,” Larson said of the final lap battle. “I knew he’d get close. I didn’t know he would get that close there coming to the line. I had to squeeze him because I knew he was going to get the fan vote. He has a lot of fans. I knew Danica (Patrick) was going to get the fan vote also. And if Chase was to win, I wouldn’t be in. So, I had to do everything I could do to get to the start/finish line in first and luckily it paid off.
“I was pretty loose there towards the end,” he added. “So, actually, when he got to my right side, my car drove better. I had no more grip or sideforce or whatever. We ran a decent corner but he was able to slow me down enough. And he had the run. I just had to squeeze him. So, I’m sure he’s upset with me. But, it’s a non-points race and we’re going for a million bucks. I felt like I had to get it done; especially knowing that he would be in the race and I wouldn’t.”
“Kyle did what he had to do to beat us back to the line,” Elliott said. “We had a real good run. I hate to not to race your way in. That’s pretty frustrating on my behalf. I just didn’t do a very good job. Regardless, it was great to have some great fans to get us in this race because I couldn’t get it done for us.”
Elliott and Patrick will start the All-Star Race after receiving the two fan vote spots.
“First and foremost, thank you to the fans,” Patrick said. “The only thing that would make this any better is if I could deliver a great finish for them and an exciting race and pass cars and make the car better for next week. I definitely felt like there were some things we could learn from getting out there. Obviously, we got put in the challenging situation of having zero practice with the new package and just going out and racing. So, there were definitely some issues and we had to kind of Band-Aid them for the couple of segments that we had out there. But, I really want to do better. I feel like I was at the wrong place at the wrong time a few times out there.
“But on the plus side, I felt like we learned about the car. Even if we didn’t make it through, we were going to be more prepared for next weekend. But, it’s just even that much better to know that I have incredible fans that always come through. Don’t think that I don’t see social media fans. And I see all the times that people said they voted for me. So, thank you very much. I hope I give you something fun to watch tonight.”
The race lasted 54 minutes and 16 seconds at an average speed of 82.924 mph. There were three cautions for four laps and four lead changes among five drivers.
