Official Release

"Fast Friday" proved just that at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with six Verizon IndyCar Series drivers running laps in excess of 230 mph on the final full practice day before qualifying for the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 MOBIL 1/ASPEN DENTAL CHEVROLET SS – Joins Sprint All-Star Race line-up via Fan Vote: “I have great fans. I know I didn’t make it in last year, but I heard that they voted even more last year than the year before that and so I’m sure that this year was nothing different. I think I got close at the end and they came through. They always come through. I am lucky to have such great fans."

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Ortho Ford Fusion, took the lead on lap one and dominated the first segment of Friday night’s Sprint Showdown, leading all 20 laps to earn a berth in tomorrow night’s Sprint All-Star race. The victory keeps alive Roush Fenway’s 26-year streak of having a least one car in the all-star event in each season since 1990. It is also Biffle’s 12th appearance in the All-Star race.

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 Ortho Ford Fusion – POST-RACE GARAGE INTERVIEW – “I’m really excited. We’ve worked really hard and we had good track position. We qualified well. It seems like we’re getting our cars a little bit better. We know we still have work to do, but when it got out in clean air it was pretty fast and we were able to hold off Clint and have a pretty good lead. I definitely didn’t want to see a caution flag. I wasn’t ready for a restart and mix it up again, but we’re pretty happy with the car.”

“He (Brian Pattie, crew chief) said to take four tires and I said, ‘Yeah, okay.’ Then everybody took two and I was like, ‘Oh no.’ We had a pretty good car – our 5-hour ENERGY Toyota was good especially on the long run. That gives me a little bit of confidence going into the 600. I think we’ll be a little bit better. I appreciate all the guys’ efforts and all their hard work. The way we’re running is not due to a lack of effort."

KASEY KAHNE AND KEITH RODDEN, NO 5 TIME WARNER CABLE CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed strategy for the All-Star Race, the new format, having a good start to the season, the recent test at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the possible 2016 package, and more.

MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/VISSER PRECISION CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the team’s success this far this year, what it would mean to make be in the All-Star Race, his new crew chief, and more.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Red Nose Day Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How did the car feel in practice? “It felt really good. I was obviously optimistic about coming back and getting some laps in here at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Everything felt good with the No. 18 M&M’s Red Nose Day Toyota Camry. "

Bubba Wallace, who is competing in his first fulltime season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, enters Sunday’s race at Iowa Speedway fourth in the series point standings. The Rookie of the Year contender comes into the weekend with some experience at the .88-mile track.

Arctic Cat, one of the most widely recognized and respected names in the snowmobile, ATV and side-by-side industry, will join Bass Pro Shops as the co-primary sponsor of Tony Stewart in the 31st annual NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Saturday night at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.