Biffle, Bowyer, Patrick take different routes into Sprint All-Star Race
May 15, 2015
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
CONCORD,
N.C.— Greg Biffle led every lap of the caution-free first 20-lap
segment of Friday night’s Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Clint Bowyer needed an early caution in the second segment to validate crew chief Brian Pattie’s four-tire call.
Though
they arrived at the finish line through different routes, Biffle and
Bowyer earned the two transfer spots into Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint
All-Star Race (May 16 on FOX Sports 1 at 7 p.m. ET) and will compete
for the million-dollar top prize.
Ninth-place
finisher Danica Patrick also made the field for NASCAR’s glamour
non-points race at the 1.5-mile speedway, as the first multiple winner
of the Sprint Fan Vote.
Biffle,
who put a Roush Fenway Racing car into the Sprint All-Star Race for the
16th straight year, ran away from the rest of the field in the first
segment, beating Bowyer to the stripe by 1.583 seconds, and took his car
to the garage.
“I’m
really excited,” said Biffle, who started second and traded paint with
pole winner Paul Menard before assuming the top spot on the first lap.
“We’ve worked really hard and we had good track position. We qualified
well. It seems like we’re getting our cars a little bit better.
“We
know we still have work to do, but when it got out in clean air it was
pretty fast, and we were able to hold off Clint and have a pretty good
lead. I definitely didn’t want to see a caution flag. I wasn’t ready for
a restart and mix it up again, but we’re pretty happy with the car…
“I’ve never been so excited to win half a race in my life.”
Martin
Truex Jr. was one of four drivers who changed two tires during the
break between segments, and the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row
Racing Chevrolet took the lead after close-quarters racing to start
segment No. 2. But a caution for J.J. Yeley’s spin out of Turn 4 slowed
the field on Lap 22, and put Bowyer in position to take advantage of his
four fresh tires.
After
two laps of breathtaking three-wide racing, Bowyer surged past Truex
and Kyle Larson to take the lead for good. His winning margin over
second-place Menard was 1.521 seconds, as Truex fell back to third and
Larson pitted under green with a cut tire.
“You
definitely don’t want to be known as the winner of the Sprint Showdown,
but it’s better than going home,” quipped Bowyer, who like Biffle has
suffered through an extended victory drought. “I’m glad we’re a part of
that show… I almost did a burnout.”
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