Clint Bowyer Wins Sprint Showdown, Advances to All-Star Race

Clint Bowyer raced his way into the Sprint All-Star Race by winning the Sprint Showdown on Friday night.

Bowyer had a strong car all night, and he outran the rest of the field following a four-tire pit stop before the final restart.

Photo courtesy Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

“I guess that was the right deal,” Bowyer said.  “We’ve had a struggling year, and I spent a lot of time at the shop this week.”

“We came here with a little bit of a different set-up, and I’m really excited about the way our car handled in practice and throughout the run.”

AJ Allmendinger followed Bowyer across the line in second, and he also transferred into the All-Star Race.

The biggest surprise of the night came when NASCAR announced the fan-vote winner who also transfers into the All-Star Race.  The fan-vote was Josh Wise, whose Dogecoin-sponsored car spurred a Reddit-inspired movement to vote the driver into the race.

The Showdown was split into two 20-lap segments, with an optional pit stop in between the segments.  

The All-Star Race is Saturday night at 9:00 p.m. on FOX Sports 1.  That race includes all the winners since last year’s Coca-Cola 600 and all the previous winners of the All-Star Race.

The All-Star Race is a 90-lap event that showcases the biggest names of the sport.  It includes four 20-lap segments, and a fifth segment with a final 10-lap dash for the win.

Drivers are not required to pit between the first four segments, and will lose any track position if they choose to do so.  Following the fourth segment, the field will be reset by their average finish among the four segments, and they will have to make a mandatory four-tire pit stop.  The order on the final restart will be determined by how they come off pit road.

Qualifying for the All-Star Race will be Saturday night before the race.  

Here are the 25 drivers who will compete in the All-Star Race:

Jamie McMurray, Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske No. 2 Ford

Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet

Kasey Kahne, Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota

Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet

Greg Biffle, Roush-Fenway Racing No. 16 Ford

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota

Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota

Joey Logano, Team Penske No. 22 Ford

Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet

Ryan Newman, Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet

David Ragan, Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford

Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet

Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet

Brian Vickers, Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Toyota

Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Chevrolet

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet

Carl Edwards, Roush-Fenway Racing No. 99 Ford

Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip Racing No. 15 Toyota (Sprint Showdown Winner)

AJ Allmendinger, JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Toyota (Sprint Showdown Runner-Up)

Josh Wise, Phil Parsons Racing No. 98 Ford (Fan Vote Winner)