NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: North Carolina Education Lottery 200, 7:45 p.m. Friday, at Charlotte Motor Speedway; FS1, AM-920, 7:30 p.m. 2015 victor: Kasey Kahne.
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The field for a Sprint Cup race was reduced from forty-three to forty this season but the field that takes the green flag for Saturday night’s All-Star race will be even more exclusive as every driver in the field will have been a victor. With the Sprint Showdown scheduled for 11 a.m. EDT and the Truck Series race around 12:30 p.m. after the showdown. Drivers advancing to the All-Star Race from the Sprint Showdown, held earlier in the day Saturday, got no practice time.
During a break in green-flag racing between the second 50-lap segment and the final 13-lap run to the finish, NASCAR drew to determine how many cars would make mandatory four-tire pit stops.
The win is Logano’s first of 2016, but as a non-championship win, the reward is little more than the substantial million dollar prize and some much-needed momentum for a team that has had competitive speed all year long but hasn’t performed at their peak level in almost two months. In what was going to be a storybook finish no matter which of the first three won, Kenseth earned his first win since September 27, 2015.
The unique race, which features 110-laps broken into five segments, is something Busch says is an honor to be part of and he enjoys the opportunity to compete. Matt Kenseth 8/1 19th 37th 11th 4th 2004 victor and active leader with a 6.1 average finish in 15 Sprint All-Star starts.
The cars with four new tyres lined up behind those with older tyres, and while the format was supposed to entice a wreck, or come-from-behind victories, Johnson and Kyle Busch among others were quickly out of the race lead on the older tyres by the time the field reached the backstretch. Since a minimum 20-car field is required that meant the top two vote getters among the fans also gained positions in the All-Star race. They traded the lead back and forth before Harvick finally was able to clear Busch to take over sole possession of the lead by lap 10. My money would be on fresh tires at Charlotte with 13 laps to go, but we’ll have to see. Crafton has four wins in five races this season.
Before all the racing gets started Saturday night, be sure to pay attention to the command to start engines.Tony Stewart, in his last all-star race, will give the command, his first “retirement tour” act of his final Sprint Cup season.
The starting line-up will be determined by qualifying at 7:10pm followed by the All-Star Race at 9pm.
Danica Patrick didn’t have the greatest morning Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but it was good enough for her to race again Saturday night. Atlanta and Texas races most comparatively to Charlotte. “I just wanted to protect the bottom of the track because I knew I could fight him off better down there”.
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While losing the final segment might have been disappointing for Elliott, that disappointment did not last long.
