NASCAR Sprint Showdown 2016: Start Time, Entry List, TV Schedule and More
Danica Patrick and some of NASCAR's brightest young stars will headline Friday's Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The winners of the Sprint Showdown's three segments will earn automatic bids to Saturday's 2016 All-Star Race, and fans will get involved by voting two more lucky drivers into the proceedings.
NASCAR's ever-changing weekend exhibition isn't anything to underestimate, but there's even more at stake—a few lucky drivers will have a chance to get a leg up on the rest of the field before next weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at the same track.
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Below, let's take a look at everything you need to know about Friday's Sprint Showdown.
Viewing Details
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway
When: Friday, May 20, at 7:15 p.m. ET
Watch: Fox Sports 1
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
Tickets: ScoreBig.com
Lineup
| 1 | Austin Dillon |
| 2 | Trevor Bayne |
| 3 | Danica Patrick |
| 4 | Regan Smith |
| 5 | Clint Bowyer |
| 6 | Casey Mears |
| 7 | Greg Biffle |
| 8 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 9 | David Ragan |
| 10 | Ryan Blaney |
| 11 | Chase Elliott |
| 12 | Paul Menard |
| 13 | Josh Wise |
| 14 | Jeffrey Earnhardt |
| 15 | Chris Buescher |
| 16 | Kyle Larson |
| 17 | Landon Cassill |
| 18 | Aric Almirola |
| 19 | Brian Scott |
| 20 | Michael Annett |
| 21 | AJ Allmendinger |
| 22 | Reed Sorenson |
| 23 | Matt DiBenedetto |
| 24 | Michael Annett |
| 25 | Cole Whitt |
Sprint Cup Standings
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 418 | 1 |
| 2 | Kyle Busch | 397 | 3 |
| 3 | Kurt Busch | 386 | 0 |
| 4 | Carl Edwards | 381 | 2 |
| 5 | Jimmie Johnson | 370 | 2 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 368 | 2 |
| 7 | Chase Elliott | 341 | 0 |
| 8 | Joey Logano | 340 | 0 |
| 9 | Martin Truex Jr. | 336 | 0 |
| 10 | Austin Dillon | 315 | 0 |
| 11 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 314 | 0 |
| 12 | Matt Kenseth | 313 | 1 |
| 13 | Denny Hamlin | 308 | 1 |
| 14 | Jamie McMurray | 296 | 0 |
| 15 | Ryan Blaney | 288 | 0 |
| 16 | AJ Allmendinger | 283 | 0 |
Format and Preview
Friday's event will slot three lucky drivers into Saturday's race, which features a $1 million top prize and a unique format of its own.
The first segment is 20 laps, with the field set by practice speed. The eventual winner will punch his or her ticket to Saturday's race and won't suit up for the rest of Friday's proceedings. It's the same story for the second segment, though the initial order will be set by pit-road order after a mandatory two-tire stop.
Segment No. 3 is where things get the most interesting, though, because it's just 10 laps after another mandatory stop, which encourages an insane sprint with many passes.
The drivers involved should play right into the format's hands.
Patrick knows a thing or two about passing. A two time fan-vote winner, Patrick is entering the event after one of her best performances of the season: a 13th-place finish at Dover. She's led only five laps this year, but a recent momentum-building experience means she might not need to pull off another victory via fan vote.
It's about the young guns after Patrick. Look at Rookie of the Year candidate Chase Elliott, who has three top-10 finishes this year. He got to race in the Coca-Cola 600 one year ago and thinks the experience will help him this weekend.
"That's good experience," Elliott said, according to Jeff Wackerlin of Motor Racing Network. "That place is so temperature-sensitive, so it was good to get all of that information. Hopefully, I'll take what we've learned and get a little bit better."
A less popular name to keep an eye on is Ryan Blaney, a surprising young gun with five top-10 finishes to his name. Three of those have come in his last three races, and while Blaney is unlikely to win the vote, he's hoping he won't need it:
NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip spoke with Scott Hamilton of the Winston-Salem Journal about Elliott and Blaney as well as the next wave of talent as a whole, and he offered high praise.
"This one (the Rookie of the Year race) is going to go right down to the wire,” Waltrip said. “Any one of these kids can win a race any given week. It’s a battle, and these are two super young men who are going to be in this sport for a long time.”
Other notable names such as Kyle Larson and Clint Bowyer should find themselves in contention Friday.
As a whole, though, the precursor to Saturday's event will put an emphasis on the younger generation of drivers, most of whom are racing at their best right now.
Viewed in this light, NASCAR has a huge hit on its hands. What better way to build hype for an All-Star event than by showcasing the next generation the day before?
NASCAR does even better with the Sprint Showdown—it gives said generation a chance to crash the party and usher itself in before anyone could have predicted.
Fans can vote for their favorite drivers through 5 p.m. ET on Friday at NASCAR.com.
Stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
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