The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’s annual All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway will host a diverse set of racing this weekend. The motor sports events are the Camping World Truck Series, the K&N Pro Series West, World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series, National Sprint League and the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions.
Trevor Bayne, Greg Biffle and Kyle Larson raced their way into the Charlotte Motor Speedway All-Star Showdown early Saturday morning. Rookie Chase Elliott and Danica Patrick will also be participating because they were voted in by the fans.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Carl Edwards and the #2 Miller Lite of Brad Keselowski ran identical practice times in Saturday mornings extended practice round and will look to make their mark Saturday evening. Denny Hamlin, Edwards teammate, won this race last year and recorded the third fastest time. Kurt Busch and Joey Logano rounded out the top five. Red hot Kevin Harvick finished with the seventh fastest practice time.
The qualifying order for Charlotte Motor Speedway’s All-Star Showdown will take place at 7 PM E.T. on FS1 due to it being rained out on Friday. Everything was reshuffled for Saturday and the three short Showdown races that determined the last five drivers spots in the contest was ran at 12 PM E.T.
Defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch will once again look to check another speedway off of his bucket list. The M&M’s 75th Addition Toyota Camry was ninth fastest.Busch finished sixth in this race last year after recovering from a violent wreck that put the driver out for the first half of the 2015 season.
NASCAR’s fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 13th fastest in the practice round. Earnhardt Jr. won this event as a rookie driver in 2002. The #88 Mountain Dew Chevrolet has yet to record a win in 2016 but would be satisfied taking home the big prize money allotted to the victor.
Jimmie Johnson and his #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet was sixth fastest on his early morning runs. The amazing speedster has found his way into victory lane on seven different occasions at Charlotte Motor speedway and should once again be a force to reckon with during the race. Johnson is in the top ten in points and is a must as an A driver on some NASCAR fantasy tickets.
Joey Logano proved he once again brought speed to the track. Logano was in the top five for practice speeds and won the Coca Cola 500 here last year. Both he and his partner Brad Keselowski have to be strongly considered as picks for your tickets in the A drivers spots as well.
Kevin Harvick and his #4 Busch Lite Chevrolet hot-rod has been a top five mainstay in the first half on the NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Harvick won here in the fall of 2014 on his way to his first NASCAR championship. His teammate Kurt Busch also made the top five practice speeds. The Haas Automation team should be a factor when the final laps of the All-Star segments are turned. Harvick is another must have on fantasy tickets.
The misfortunes of Martin Truex Jr. have caused the racer to lose the last few contests where he clearly had the fastest car. Once again the #78 Furniture Row Toyota Camry will look to take his car to the front of the field on Saturday night. Truex Jr. was the eighth fastest in the practice round but until the drivers bad luck subsides, I would hesitate to pick him as an A driver but is a must have for the fantasy leagues that have him in the top B drivers list.
Last week’s winner Matt Kenseth rounded out the top ten with a practice speed of 190.665 miles per hour. Kenseth will look to continue his newly found hot streak and try to make it back-to-back wins. The #20 Dollar General Toyota Camry from Joe Gibbs Racing has found his way to the Winner’s Circle on two different occasions, the last coming in the fall of 2011.
Unofficial Entrants into Charlotte’s All-Star Showdown before Race-Ins and Voting:
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | Joplin, Missouri |  |
Bass Pro Shop / National Turkey Federation | Chip Ganassi Racing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Rochester Hills, Michigan |  |
Miller Lite | Team Penske |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Bakersfield, California | |
Busch Light Chevrolet SS | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne | Enumclaw, Washington | |
Drive Home A Winner | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chesterfield, Virginia |  |
FedEx Express | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 14 | Tony Stewart | Columbus, Indiana | |
Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Chevrolet SS | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 19 | Carl Edwards | Columbia, Missouri | |
ARRIS Surfboard | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 20 | Matt Kenseth | Cambridge, Wisconsin | |
Dollar General | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Middletown, Connecticut | |
Shell Pennzoil | Team Penske |
| 31 | Ryan Newman | South Bend, Indiana | |
Caterpillar / Grainger | Richard Childress Racing |
| 41 | Kurt Busch | Las Vegas, Nevada | |
Haas Automation / Monster Energy Chevrolet SS | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | El Cajon, California | |
Lowe’s | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 75 | Kyle Busch | Las Vegas, Nevada | |
M&M’s 75th Anniversary | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Mayetta, New Jersey | |
Furniture Row | Furniture Row Racing |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Kannapolis, North Carolina | |
Mountain Dew | Hendrick Motorsports |
