11:20 p.m. UPDATE: Fan favorite wins $1 million in Sprint All Star race

Neither he, nor his two his teammates, Elliott Sadler and Patrick Carpentier, qualified for the Sprint All Star Race but Kasey Kahne received the fan favorite award and was granted a coveted starting spot in the $1 million extravaganza.

And, at the end of the 100-lap , caution-free shootout, Kahne crossed the finish line first and

claimed the $1 million prize for Gillette Evernham Motorsports.

"I wouldn't have believed it until about lap 60 or so," Kahne said, after climbing from the N. 9 Budweiser Dodge in Victory Lane. "At that point, our car was getting better and better. We were making the right adjustments. In the final 50 to 75 laps we were pretty loose. We made one small adjustment with the track bar and left the tires. I knew we were quick the longer the runs went. I thought if we could get by some cars, the car was good enough to win."

This was the first time that a fan favorite, someone who was voted in through NASCAR online polling system, had won the Sprint All Star Race. It was also the first time that all 100 laps of the race went caution free.

"We got voted in by the fans and that feels really good," Kahne said. "It is really special to know that we have that many fans. This gives me a ton of confidence and momentum as a driver and I am really looking forward to next week."

Coming in second was Greg Biffle followed by Matt Kenseth, who were both goofing off outside the media center as I came back to update the blog site.

Rounding out the Top 5 was Jimmie Johnson, who led for several laps before his car went away, and Tony Stewart, who climbed from his car with a big smile on his face.

"I am very happy," Stewart said. "We had a good run tonight."

from sixth back, here is how the Sprint All Star Race ended up:

Ryan Newman

Sam Hornish Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Mark Martin

Carl Edwards

Kevin Harvick

Bobby Labonte

Casey Mears

Juan Pablo Montoya

Jeff Gordon

Martin truex Jr.

A.J. Allmendinger

Clint Bowyer

Jamie McMurray

Jeff Burton

Dale Jarrett

Kurt Busch

Denny Hamlin

Kyle Busch

That's it from Charlotte for tonight. I will update the site throughout the week, so be sure to check back periodically to see what is happening in the heart of NASCAR country.

Saturday 8:25 UPDATE: Almendinger wins Sprint Showdown

A.J. Almendinger just crossed the finish line to take the checkered flag in the Sprint Showdown followed closely by Sam Hornish Jr.

Although the race pay $50,000 and $40,000, respectively for first and second, it is the transfer spots that these two drivers really care about. The Dinger and Hornish will advance to the Sprint All Star race and have a chance for $1 million.

It was a tedious race with several cautions, one of them brought out when Almendinger got into the back of Elliott Sadler and sent him into the wall on Lap 8.

That's it until after the Sprint All Star race, I am headed trackside and will post photos and an update later this evening.

Saturday 6:45 p.m. UPDATE: Sprint Showdown underway

It's hard to update the site when you are out at the track and doing different stuff all day long. Right now, we are under caution in the Sprint Showdown race. That's the race where drivers, not already qualified for the $1 million Sprint All Star race, can win their way into the action.

The caution came out after Patrick Carpentier lost it coming around Turn 4 on Lap 6 and backed the No. 10 Dodge into the outside wall.

As I said, I have been working on a pretty cool story all day. My goal over the next week is to visit as many race shops as I can and then rank them. So far, I can tell you that Michael Waltrip's Raceworld is the best race shop that I have toured. There are a lot of race shops so that doesn't men he will be ranked number one. I have ben told that Penske Racing South is an awesome facility. I was even lucky enough to get a photo with Michael

 Waltrip, who was hanging out and signing autographs for his fans.

Well, it's Lap 8 and we are again under caution. 

This time for Elliott Sadler's No. 19 Dodge.

WOW, that's two Gillette Evernham Motorsports cars out of action.

The first segment is over and Robby Gordon has taken his car to the garage. Apparently, there was a windshield tear-off covering the air intake and he overheated the Jim Beam Dodge.

11:25 p.m. UPDATE: Matt Crafton takes the No. 88 Menard's Chevy to Victory Lane

It was a long time coming for the ThorSport Racing team as Matt Crafton brought the No. 88 Menard's Chevrolet to Victory Lane in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.

It was Crafton's first time to bring the No. 88 truck to Victory Lane and the first time in a decade or more that ThorSport made it to the finish line ahead of the field. And as the No. 88 came off of Turn 4, everyone on the No. 88 crew and their teammates on the No. 13 truck were ecstatic.

For those who don't know, I used to do PR for the No. 13 truck a few years ago, so this was pretty cool. A lot of my old friends were still there and I was on pit road with them while they cheered Matt on.

I asked Matt what he was thinking coming off the green-white-checkered finish, 

his response brought laughter to the media center.

"It was checkers or wreckers at that point," he said. "I certainly wasn't lifting and i wasn't looking back. I put the 

mirror up and the pedal down. I have been waiting so long for this, I am still kinda numb."

For a while it looked like Kyle Busch was going to run away with it. In fact, to steal a line from MRN's Dave Moody, Busch was in an area code for most of the race. But that all changed when Ron Hornaday got loose on the frontstretch and spun into Bush.

The collision wasn't catastrophic but it did take away any chance that Busch had to visit Victory Lane for a third time this season in the Craftsman Truck Series.

And here is a rundown of how the field ended up:

Matt Crafton

Chad McCumbee

Brendan Gaughan

Erik Darnell

Rick Crawford

Terry Cook

Dennis Setzer

Kyle Busch

Landon Cassill

Mike Skinner

Johnny Benson

Todd Bodine

Ken Schrader

Jack Sprague

Collin Braun

Andy Lally

David Starr

Travis Kvapil

Jon Wood

Shelby Howard

Chad Chaffin

Ted Musgrave

Ron Hornaday

Marc Mitchell

Timothy Peters

Jason White

Scott Lagasse Jr.

Stacy Compton

Brian Sockwell

J.C. Stout

John Mickel

Justin Marks

Scott Speed

Donny Lia

Brian Scott

Drrike Cope

8 p.m. UPDATE: You-know-who gets the pole

I wasn't going to update the site until after the Craftsman Truck Series race but I couldn't help it. I know I railed on Kyle Busch two weeks ago after he punted Dale Earnhardt Jr. but my goodness this kid is an incredible racecar driver.

Busch was the last of the All Star qualifiers to take to the track and knocked Jeff Gordon off the pole for tomorrow night's Sprint All Star race. It was the second time today that Busch found himself on the front row as he earlier qualified first for the truck race, which starts in about 20 minutes.

The lineup for tomorrow night's Sprint All Star race will be:

Kyle Busch

Jeff Gordon

Kurt Busch

Martin Truex Jr.

Greg Biffle

Jamie McMurray

Jeff Burton

Ryan Newman

Clint Bowyer

Bobby Labonte

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Tony Stewart

Mark Martin

Matt Kenseth

Juan Pablo Montoya

Kevin Harvick

Casey Mears

Dale Jarrett

Carl Edwards

Denny Hamlin

Jimmie Johnson

*Sprint Showdown Winner

*Sprint Showdown Runner-up

*Fan Favorite in voting at NASCAR.com

KICKINTHETIRES.NET

If you are tired of typing in the whole .blogspot.com thing, well, this is good news. I was able to register www.kickinthetires.net and forward the link to my blog site. So, now all you have to do is type in www.kickinthetires.net and save that as your shortcut.

The track is currently under yellow after Kenny Wallace backed the No. 37 VOTE KENNY racing machine into the Turn 2 wall.

I am getting ready to head out for the Craftsman Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200, so I will update the sight later this evening.

5:30 p.m. UPDATE from Charlotte, N.C.

I guess for you guys back in Beaumont this is the 4:30 p.m. update but I am on Eastern Time so just subtract an hour.

We (the media as a whole) just got through with a plethora of driver interviews in the Time Warner Cable Infield Media Center. And as we all expected the real fun began when the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, Kyle Busch, opened his mouth. I have about decided that Kyle Busch was a professional wrestler in another life. His cocky attitude is tough to deal with at times but he drives the heck out of a racecar.

That was apparent when he snapped off the pole for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Craftsman Truck Series race with a speed that was 3 mph faster than the next closest driver.

One of the other NASCAR reporters mouthed off about what Busch had, "running through his veins" and the whole room erupted when the guy next to me said, "money." Of course his sponsor's PR guy said, "NOS." For those that do not know NOS is the energy drink that Kyle is always holding while celebrating his numerous wins.

Anyway, we are all still recovering from Busch's openness and we have also learned that he has a desire to go Formula 1 Racing. Busch will go to Japan later this year for an exhibition with his No. 18 Sprint Cup car and plans to run an F1 Toyota while there. His hopes are that he is good enough to make a showing but he admits that he, "jerks on the steering wheel too much" and might end up in the wall.

We are currently watching qualifying for the Sprint Showdown race. The winner and runner-up of this race will transfer into the Sprint All Star race on Saturday.

After Showdown qualifying the track will clear and the trucks will get ready for the start of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. And here is the line-up for the truck race:

Kyle Busch

Ron Hornaday

Jack Sprague

Mike Skinner

Erik Darnell

Colin Braun

Chad McCumbee

Landon Cassill

Andy Lally

Shelby Howard

Marc Mitchell

Travis Kvapil

Scott Speed

Johnny Benson

Rick Crawford

Timothy Peters

Stacy Compton

Matt crafton

David Starr

Cahd Chaffin

Todd Bodine

Ken Schrader

Ted Musgrave

J.C. Stout

Terry Cook

John Mickel

Jon Wood

Dennis Setzer

Brendan Gaughan

Scott Lagasse Jr.

Derrike Cope

Justin Marks

Jason White

Donny Lia

Brian Stockwell

Nick Tucker

Wayne Edwards

Brian Scott

NOON UPDATE: Live from Lowe's Motor Speedway

Well, never let it be said that Carl Edwards isn't a romantic. While Carl dodged questions about how he would proposed should he ever entertain the idea of marriage, he was more than happy to help Phillip Pruzensky tell his girlfriend of three years, Janice Scarfe, how much he loves her.

As part of his sponsorship by Harlequin and Office Depot, Carl selected Pruzensky's entry in the "Say yes to a winning proposal" contest.

Pruzensky was shaking but somehow he managed, with the Carl Edwards, to pull back the car cover and propose to Scarfe.

She was speechless, except for the word, "Yes."

Pruzensky, 23, and Scarfe, 21, have been dating for more than three years and discovered they shared a love for NASCAR on that very first date. They are both in college but spend time each weekend watching NASCAR and pulling for their favorite driver — which by the way is Carl Edwards.

The two said they had been talking about marriage for some time and Pruzensky decided to submit his entry to the contest. He said being selected as the contest's winner was, "Perfect."

Pruzensky's proposal will be displayed on the rear bumper cover of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion during the Sprint All Star race and Edwards is hopeful that Pruzensky and Scarfe can join him in Victory Lane.

10:20 a.m. NASCAR Day update

Well, the entry list for tomorrow's Sprint Showdown qualifying race to get into the Sprint All Star race was just released. The winner and the second place car will advance to the All Star race and the rest will go home. Also, one entrant that is selected through a fan vote will also make the race. Those in the running for that honor include, but are not limited to Robby Gordon, Elliott Sadler and Michael Waltrip. Check out the NASCAR.com Web site for information on submitting you pick for Fan Favorite.

Okay, here we go with the entrants for the Sprint Showdown.

David Reutimann

Regan Smith

David Ragan

Robby Gordon

Tony Raines

Kasey Kahne

Patrick Carpentier

Paul Menard

Elliott Sadler

Bill Elliott

Dave Blaney

Travis Kvapil

Jeff Green

Kenny Wallace

David Gilliland

Reed Sorenson

Kyle Petty

Carl Long

Chad McCumbee

Stanton Barrett

Michael Waltrip

Scott Riggs

Johnny Sauter

Sam Hornish Jr.

Joe Nemechek

Brian Vickers

A.J. Allmendinger

J.J. Yeley

Now, here are those drivers that are already qualified for the Sprint All Star race. The winner of the All Star race will receive $1 million.

Martin Truex Jr.

Kurt Busch

Casey Mears

Clint Bowyer

Mark Martin

Denny Hamlin

Ryan Newman

Greg Biffle

Matt Kenseth

Kyle Busch

Tony Stewart

Jeff Gordon

Jamie McMurray

Kevin Harvick

Jeff Burton

Juan Pablo Montoya

Bobby Labonte

Dale Jarrett

Jimmie Johnson

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Carl Edwards

Lowe's Motor Speedway

After 20 hours of driving, I finally made it close to the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte/Concord, N.C. It was a tedious trip and I saw no less than 10 major accidents including three overturned 18 wheelers and an 8-car pileup.

The latter cost me about an hour as I was forced to sit in traffic.

Anyway, I head to the track in the morning and will be updating daily for the next week. We have the truck race and qualifying for the All Star Race tomorrow night. So, be sure to check back for updates. I have learned that Dario Franchitti will not attempt to run in the Sprint Cup Showdown. He is still suffering from a broken ankle and Chip Ganassi decided to withdraw Franchitti's entry.

Also, Friday, May 16, is NASCAR Day. I will try to update the site in the morning and provide a phone number for anyone wishing to make a donation. I will be hanging out at the Sam Bass Galleries across from the track and will hopefully get a couple of good driver interviews.

Well, that is it for now, I am "borrowing" wireless Internet from the Marriott in Concord, so I better go.

8:11 a.m UPDATE:

The number to call in order to make donations for this year's NASCAR Day fundraising event is: 1-888-629-1684.

I got to the credential office this morning at 7 a.m. EST to obtain my credentials and guess what, there was an error. After some discussion and a phone call to the head media guy, we worked it out and I now have awesome access throughout the facility.

I am working a pretty good story with another NASCAR reporter and will have it in the hardcopy edition of The Examiner next week.

Be sure to check back throughout the weekend for updates and a link to photos at www.theexaminer.com