Under a full moon on a thrilling Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Joey Logano corralled $1 million by passing Kyle Larson with two laps to go in a stirring NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race that was full of memorable moments and heavy on passing.
Carl Edwards won the first segment, while Larson - who advanced from the Sprint Showdown - claimed Segment 2. An action-packed Segment 3 saw Larson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. restart with fresh Goodyear tires behind Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch, who finished 12th and 13th in Segment 2 - and were put on the front row after the top 11 cars were required to pit. A wild restart with 13 laps to go saw Larson emerge from the lead, but Logano chased him down and passed him in Turn 2 moments before Larson's car bottomed out and hit the wall. Larson was relegated to 16th, while Logano's Team Penske teammate, Brad Keselowski, drove to second. Earnhardt Jr. finished third, Edwards was fourth and Kurt Busch fifth to conclude the first weekend of a show-stopping 10 Days of NASCAR Thunder at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
QUOTES:
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Winner - Joey Logano (No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford): "It was fast when we unloaded. We never showed it. It was a fun race. I got to run him (Kyle Larson) hard; it was for a million bucks. It's even special to be in this race. Charlotte is a fun place to win. It's home here. This is good momentum for the Coca-Cola 600. This was all to promote better racing and better tire falloff. We saw that tonight. It promoted a lot of racing hard and I thought it was great."
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Runner-Up - Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Ford): "It was a decent night, but not a great night we wanted for the Miller Lite Ford. I'm happy for my teammate, Joey Logano. It was exactly what you would expect from an All-Star Race format. It was great for Team Penske as a whole, but we hoped we would be in victory lane. There was a last-lap pass for the lead. There were several passes for the lead. The last four races, there hasn't been a pass for the lead the last 30 or 40 laps. I think our fans deserve a better format than that, and they got that today. I don't know how you can get much more compelling racing than that. So, they need to get un-confused."
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Third-Place Finisher - Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Mountain Dew Chevrolet): "As cool as it is outside, the track temperature stayed low like that. It was pretty good strategy by Greg (crew chief Greg Ives). I don't even remember what he did, but we ended up in the top five. I don't know how we passed all of those people but once we got toward the front, the car started driving better. At the end of the second segment, I thought we had a great car. The last segment we made a couple of adjustments to try to help our car take off a little better and go on that short run. So we got tight from the first lap. The last segment, the car was pushing. But, we ended up finishing OK. For our team, it's a good step in the right direction."
TICKETS:
The fun continues next week, as the 10 Days of NASCAR Thunder builds up to a world-class crescendo: the 57th running of the iconic Coca-Cola 600 on May 29. To purchase tickets, camping and race-day upgrades, call the speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267) or shop online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com.
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