The Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval, Concord, NC)

No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Fusion driven by Joey Logano

Saturday, May 18, 8:00 pm ET

• WINNING A REQUIREMENT: Joey Logano will race in his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. Logano qualified for the event by winning his second-career Sprint Cup Series race last season at Pocono Raceway. Logano won the pole, led the most laps and passed his childhood idol, Mark Martin, to grab the victory.
• A SERIES-BEST AVERAGE: Of all drivers entered and eligible for this weekend’s All-Star race, Logano has the best career average finish in the event. In his two previous starts, Logano owns finishes of eighth (2009) and third (2010), giving him a 5.5 average finish in the special event.
• FAN VOTE WINNER: While Logano wasn’t eligible to race in the All-Star race his freshman season on the circuit, he made the main event by winning the Sprint Fan Vote after finishing fifth in the Sprint Showdown race.
• SPECIAL PAINT SCHEME: As is a normal occurrence in the Sprint All-Star race, Logano will carry a special paint scheme for the event. His car will transform from the regular yellow and red to a primarily yellow car highlighting the Pennzoil sponsorship of the No. 22 machine. The same paint scheme will run on Logano’s Ford Fusion next week as well in the Coca-Cola 600.

HOW MUCH FUN IS THE ALL-STAR RACE?

“It’s great. I mean it is kind of like the Unlimited at the beginning of the year, but this just feels different. This does feel like an All-Star event for sure, like you see with the NFL or NBA. It’s at night, right here at the home track for all of the teams, with a crazy format and a go-for-broke type of mentality. In a way, you can use it for a test session for the 600, but everyone comes out here thinking about one thing and that’s winning the race.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE RACE FORMAT?

“They did a good job at coming up with a format this year that is going to be more conducive to better racing. I know they have been messing with it over the years to try and make it the best possible race they can. This year, the big question will be pit strategy and when to come in, when you take tires and such. I know we have already started talking about it. You always see some different stuff happen in the All-Star race and I’m sure this year will be no different.”