Series:             NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Location:        Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Start/Finish:    15^th/19^th (Running, completed 110 of 110 laps)

Winner:           Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Tony Stewart had a relatively quiet night in the 31^st running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Saturday at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Arctic Cat Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), started 15^th and finished 19^th in the annual non-points race featuring drivers who met one of the following criteria:

·      Won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in 2014 or 2015.

·      Is a past All-Star Race winner who is a full-time Sprint Cup competitor.

·      Is a Sprint Cup champion who is a full-time Sprint Cup competitor.

·      Won the first segment of Friday night’s Sprint Showdown.

·      Won the second segment of Friday night’s Sprint Showdown.

·      Won the Sprint Fan Vote.

The 110-lap race around the 1.5-mile oval was broken up into five segments of 25 laps, 25 laps, 25 laps, 25 laps and 10 laps and featured a 20-driver field. Throughout the race, Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet battled a tight-handling condition and the highest position he attained was 12^th.

Enjoying a much better evening was Stewart’s SHR teammate Kevin Harvick. The driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet SS finished .923 of a second behind race-winner Denny Hamlin in the runner-up spot. It was the second straight year Harvick finished second in the All-Star Race and it was his fourth top-five in 15 career All-Star Races. 

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished right behind Harvick in third. It was Busch’s sixth top-five in 15 career All-Star Races. 

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Mobil 1/Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 20^th after suffering a left-front wheel hub failure.

Hamlin’s victory was his first in nine career All-Star Races. His previous best finish was a pair of fourth-place results in 2009 and 2010.

Harvick, Busch, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five, while Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. comprised the remainder of the top-10.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to point-paying racing on Sunday, May 24 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. The longest race on the Sprint Cup schedule gets underway at 6 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX beginning at 5:30 p.m.   

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