NASCAR Cup Series

AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Freightliner/Miller Welders Chevrolet SS, raced his way into the Sprint All-Star race for the third time in his career by finishing second in the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Allmendinger will join 21 other drivers in Saturday night’s 30th running of the annual non-points race, with NASCAR’s brightest stars battling under the lights for $1 million.

He had to finish in the top two to make it into the Sprint All-Star Race and Clint Bowyer did just that as he dominated the second half of the 40 lap Sprint Showdown to grab the victory.

“That was a pretty big save right there. I was just racing hard there with Ricky. I passed him off of four and slid up the race track just with the loose rear end, so I defended myself into turn one and I guess he didn’t like it.

On Friday afternoon, it'd be Austin Dillon laying down a lap of 27.747 seconds at Charlotte Motor Speedway to win the pole for the 29th Annual Sprint Showdown.

“Honestly, I really believe I can do that. I don’t think I would be where I am today without the confidence that I can. At this point in time, after where I’ve been and where I’ve run, it was a little bit of a surprise.

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion, is a former winner of the Sprint All-Star Race (2011). He came inside the infield media center at Charlotte Motor Speedway to talk about this weekend’s race and other issues.

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET, MET WITH MEDIA TODAY TO DISCUSS THE UPCOMING ALL-STAR RACE, THE FORMAT, NNS DRIVER CHASE ELLIOTT, MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, AND MORE.

When it comes to driving for a championship, nobody has done it better this past decade than Jimmie Johnson. Collecting six of the past eight season titles gives a fellow a certain reputation.

PARKER KLIGERMAN, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed his role as Kurt Busch’s backup at this weekend’s Sprint All-Star Race and next weekend’s Coca-Cola 600, among other topics.

Greg Biffle’s No. 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team will have a special guest in the pits this weekend for the annual Sprint All-Star race. Jeremiah Wood, a recent castoff of the hit show Survivor, will join the 3M team Saturday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Wood made it all the way to episode nine of season 28 of Survivor before being voted out of Cagayan, Philippines. Wood hails from Dobson, N.C., which also happens to be the hometown of Greg Biffle’s longtime spotter Joel Edmonds.