Chase Elliott and Danica Patrick claimed the final two spots in Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race, making the main even through a fan vote.
Elliott narrowly missed making the race by capturing the final segment of the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway, banging fenders off the final corner with winner Kyle Larson.
“He did what he thought he had to do to beat us back to the line,” Elliott, who also was nipped by Trevor Bayne for the win in the first segment, said in an interview with FS1.
It’s the third time Patrick has advanced to the Sprint All-Star Race via the fan vote.
“Thank you to the fans, the only thing that would make this any better is if I can deliver a great finish for them in an exciting race and pass cars and make the car better for next weekend,” Patrick told FS1. “We got put in the challenging position of having zero practice with a new package and going out and racing. There were defintely some issues, and we had to Band-Aid them.
“It’s that much better to know that I have incredible fans that always come through. Don’t think that I don’t see social media and see all the times that people said they voted for me. Thank you so much, and I hope I give you something fun to watch tonight.”
Elliott and Patrick joined Larson, second segment winner Greg Biffle and Bayne in transferring to the Sprint All-Star Race, which will begin at 9:17 p.m.
