Biffle, Bowyer race into All-Star Race, Patrick wins fan vote
Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer won the two segments of the Sprint Showdown Friday night and will join Danica Patrick in the field for Saturday's Sprint All-Star Race.
Biffle won segment one while Bowyer won segment two, both of which were 20 laps. Patrick won the fan vote.
Both segments looked similar; the driver who took the lead in the laps after a restart was able to check out from the field unchallenged.
Biffle started second and took the lead at the outset of the race. The first 20 laps were run without a caution flag and no one was able to get close to Biffle after he pulled away from the rest of the pack. Bowyer passed Paul Menard for second but was unable to mount a charge.
Teams had the option of pitting for tires between segments and the first four cars off pit road took two tires. Bowyer took four and capitalized on a restart with 17 laps to go after a J.J. Yeley spin. He pulled to the inside of Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson in a three-wide battle for the lead and was able to drive away from both.
Larson ended up hitting the wall after a close encounter with Sam Hornish Jr. and Truex finished the second segment in third place behind Paul Menard.
Qualifying for the All-Star Race takes place before the main event, which is scheduled to start after 9 p.m. ET.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
