NASCAR Cup Series

The Sprint Showdown will feature an all Ford front row. Leading the field to the green in Roush Fenway Racing Driver David Ragan in the No. 6 UPS machine.

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Starts Fourth In Sprint Showdown “The Miller Lite Dodge crew went work after practice and made the car better. I think we picked up about six-tenths; that’s a pretty big gain."

This week, I get the pleasure of submitting picks for two races as well as my ‘Shoe-in’ for a fan-favorite entry into the 2011 Sprint All-Star Race.

PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 MOEN/MENARDS CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD: "I have a really good race car. Really good long-run car. We are going to start third, which is good. The track picked up a lot of speed from where we did our last run. It is about how brave you are diving off in the corner."

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 BB&T CHEVROLET met with media and discussed the upcoming Kansas race and also the All-Star.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 5 LOWE'S 5% EVERY DAY CHEVROLET, met with media and discussed racing in the All-Star this weekend and the million-dollar prize, planking, the importance on how the race car unloads off the truck, and more.

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 BURGER KING CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed racing the All-Star versus the Coke 600, health of short track racing, driving Lewis Hamilton's car and other topics.

KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) CAN YOU TALK ABOUT ALL THE EXCITEMENT OF ALL-STAR WEEKEND AND COMING BACK TO CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY? “It’s great to go out there and race for no points and a million bucks. It’s a great atmosphere. "

Roush Fenway Racing’s Cup program will take a break from Sprint Cup point racing this weekend and focus on the Sprint All-Star Challenge event.

Sprint (NYSE:S) announced today The Army Ground Forces Band Brass Brigade will perform as part of the pre-race ceremonies at the 2011 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday, May 21, at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.