Roush Fenway Racing showing they are here to compete won the first two segments in Saturday’s Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday. Trevor Bayne and Greg Biffle swept the first two segments advancing into tonight’s Sprint All-Star Race and keeping Roush Fenway’s streak of now 27 consecutive All-Star starts.
On a late restart, Bayne was fourth and took the lead with his No. 6 passing the No. 24 car by only five-thousands-of-a-second at the finish line.
“That was pretty cool,” said Bayne after the race. “I thought that would be our best shot. I got a good restart and off (turn) two there was a tiny hole and somehow our car got through it without getting beat up, so we’ll take it. I was thinking about what I could do and I timed the restart really good and got right to the No. 21’s bumper at the line and was able to get three-wide off of turn two.
“The car was pretty good there,” added Bayne. “In clean air I was alright. I was a little concerned with dirty air, but I got a run and went through the middle. It was a little sketchy squeezing through that hole, but it worked.”
Bayne is making his second start in the Sprint All-Star Race. His first start in 2012 resulted in a 15th-place finish.
On the same restart in the opening segment, Ryan Blaney was given a penalty by NASCAR officials for jumping the restart.
“[Elliott] was spinning his tires on the bottom and [Trevor Bayne] was pushing me, and I was half-throttle on the brakes, and I didn’t know what to do,” Blaney said. “I’ve got someone driving me forward and [Elliott] is spinning his tires.”
“I don’t know what I could have done to stop. I really don’t, and we maybe beat him by two feet.”
“It’s such a weird and tricky call to make. It’s a judgment call and it’s unfortunate it bit us, but I think one thing we can look back and be proud of is how fast our car was. It’s a shame we won’t be racing tonight, but it’s definitely something to look forward to next week.”
In segment 2, Biffle passed the No. 3 car of Austin Dillon four laps in and led 16 laps toward the checkered flag to earn his way into his 13th All-Star start. This marks the third time that Biffle has raced his way into the All-Star race via the Showdown.
“I was being as aggressive as I could be, and I knew it was 20 laps and I knew that was my chance,” said Biffle. “The No. 3 car was a little bit loose and so was I, but I made some adjustments on my driving style and was able to get by him.”
With two top-fives and three top-tens in the all-star race, Biffle’s best finish is second in 2008.
Showing the future of NASCAR is secure in the hands of the younger generation in the Sprint Cup Series, Chase Elliott challenged Kyle Larson for the win in the closing laps of segment 3, but came up short, with Kyle Larson prevailing for a thrilling win and advancing to the Sprint All-Star race tonight for his first Sprint All-Star appearance.
Chase Elliott, driver of the #24 3M Chevrolet, and Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, battle for the finish in the third segment of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 21, 2016
Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
“We had a good Target Chevy,” said Larson. “I knew Chase (Elliott) was going to be good on four tires and I knew he was probably going to win the Fan Vote, so I knew I had to win because I wasn’t going to win the Fan Vote. I did what I had to do. I’m sure Chase is upset with me and he has all the right in the world to be. But, hey, it was for a million bucks.”
Winning the Sprint Fan Vote to advance were Chase Elliott and Danica Patrick.
“(Larson) did what he thought he had to do to beat us back to the line,” said Elliott. “That’s all there is to it. It’s good to be in the (NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race). I wish we could’ve raced our way in, but we’ve got some great fans. It was good to get some laps and know what not to do because I messed some things up there.”
“First and foremost, thank you to the fans,” Patrick said. “The only thing that would make this any better is if I could deliver a great finish for them and an exciting race and pass cars and make the car better for next week. I definitely felt like there were some things we could learn from getting out there. Obviously we got put in the challenging situation of having zero practice with the new package and just going out and racing. So, there were definitely some issues, and we had to kind of Band-Aid them for the couple of segments that we had out there.”
FOX Sports 1 will continue their broadcast of today’s activities with the All-Star Race coverage beginning at 7 pm ET on Saturday, May 21st. Radio coverage is available on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.