Hornish, McMurray race in; Logano picked
Saturday, May. 16, 2009
CONCORD, N.C. – Sam Hornish Jr. outran his competition and Jamie McMurray followed the white line all the way into Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race’s main event.
Hornish clearly had the best car of those in the Sprint Showdown all-star preliminary race and once he made his away around his Penske Racing teammate, David Stremme, it was clear sailing.
"I could run around the bottom. I could run around the top,” said Hornish. “I had a lot of fun. The car was really good.”
Hornish also raced his way into the all-star race last season with a second place finish in the Showdown. That position was reserved for McMurray, who nearly lost the opportunity with a windshield full of oil and oil dry.
“When they put the oil dry down (from an accident) and we went through it stuck to the oil we already got on the windshield,” McMurray said. “Once I got clear I drove about 90 percent while Sam was way out front.”
To help guide him around the track, McMurray remained near the bottom of the racing groove and its white line.
“It was worst on the top left of my windshield,” he said. “I couldn’t see out of my top left corner. When you can’t see and judge how sideways you are, it’s kind of scary.”
McMurray considered making a pit stop, but in the first 20 laps he made up 23 positions. He said he didn’t think he could do something similar in the final 20 lap segment.
“So, we toughed it out,” he said.
Sprint Cup Series rookie Joey Logano got a spot in the all-star field after winning the fan vote.
“I just can’t thank the fans enough for giving me the chance to race for $1 million, especially a rookie,” he said. “It’s awesome.”
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