The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race took place over the weekend and it was Joey Logano that battled his way to a million dollar payday!

Rain at Charlotte Motor Speedway delayed many of the events and even caused some to be cancelled altogether. However, moved from Friday night (5/20) Saturday morning (5/21) the Sprint Showdown did take place for drivers that were not automatically included in the Sprint All-Star Race to try to race their way in. Trevor Bayne won segment one of the showdown, Greg Biffle won segment two and Kyle Larson won the final segment. All three of those drivers earned their spot in the featured event Saturday night.

Needing two more drivers to complete the mandatory minimum 20 car field for the Sprint All-Star Race, the fan votes added Chase Elliot and Danica Patrick to the feature as well.

When the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race was able to get started everybody thought they understood how the new format would play out. Through the race many of the drivers voiced their confusion of what was actually going on. I must admit that a lot of it seemed not quite right to me as well.

That being said, it did seem that it was an entertaining exhibition race for fans to watch. There were multiple strategies through the three segments (50 laps, 50 laps and 13 laps) to be in the right position to win the big million dollar paycheck.

It did look as though the winner of the final segment from the showdown earlier in the day, Kyle Larson had set himself up to grab his first win of any kind in a Sprint Cup car and claim that big reward in doing so. However, as the laps in the final segment wound down, Joey Logano kept getting closer and closer to the leader in the #42 Chevrolet.

With just a few laps left Joey was able to get past Kyle putting his #22 Ford out front and ultimately claiming his first NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race win and the $1 million! Brad Keselowski grabbed the second place finish with Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking home a third place finish. Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch claimed fourth and fifth places respectively. See the complete race results for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race here.

This was a race for the fans and the million dollars, so no points were earned or lost. That means the point standings and Chase Grid remain the same as they were after the AAA 400 at Dover the week previous.

The drivers that got to participate in the Sprint All-Star Race and Sprint Showdown got some valuable on-track information to take forward with them to next weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race that DOES have points to be won. It is also the longest race of the year. The drivers and teams will remain at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday, May 29th.

By: Buck Stevens