Please check back to NASCAR RnR throughout the day as our very own Matt Weaver is on site and he will be reporting to us live from Charlotte. Also, look for our open race threads for the Showdown as well as the All-Star race which will be posted a half-hour before the start of each event.

Schedule of events:

2 p.m.: Spectator gates open: Fans eager to get their All-Star Saturday started early will want to arrive early to be sure not to miss any of the pre-race festivities taking place both inside and outside the track.

3:15-4:25 p.m.: Blake Shelton concert, presented by Target: Three-time GRAMMY nominee, CMA’s reigning Male Vocalist of the Year and a coach on NBC’s “The Voice,” Blake Shelton will perform a 70-minute pre-race concert in the infield between Turns 1 and 2. Admission to the show is free with the purchase of a ticket to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

6:20-6:45 p.m.: Pennzoil Victory Burnout Challenge: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers AJ Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano will leave the frontstretch in a cloud of smoke as they compete for top honors during the Pennzoil Victory Burnout Challenge.

7:30 p.m.: Sprint Showdown: As the sun sets over Charlotte Motor Speedway, so too will the chances of many drivers fighting for one of the final two spots in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. The Sprint Showdown is 40 laps of go-or-go-home racing when drivers leave it all on the line for a shot at the night’s ultimate prize.

9 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race: Twenty-three of NASCAR’s best drivers will take to the track for a 90-lap shootout. The new format emphasizes winning during first four 20-lap segments, so competition is sure to be at its best every lap. With $1 million to the winner and no points on the line, the All-Star race always promises some of the most action-packed racing of the year.

Tickets are still available for all of the All-Star Race weekend events. Weekend packages start at just $99. To purchase tickets, call the Charlotte Motor Speedway Ticket Office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267) or visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com. For all the latest news, “Like” Charlotte Motor Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/charlottemotorspeedway or follow the track on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cltmotorspdwy.

CHARLOTTE - In a repeat of last year's final round, the My Lowe's No. 48 team defeated the FedEx No. 11 to win the NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge Thursday night at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte. In doing so, the Lowe's team guaranteed their driver, Jimmie Johnson, first choice of pit stalls for Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race.

"I think it's going to be a big advantage, especially if you can get out there and win one of those first couple of segments," crew chief Chad Knaus said.

The final margin was one of the closest in event history with Johnson's crew edging Hamlin's by 0.294 of a second. The Lowe's team finished their stop in 22.533 seconds, even quicker than last year's winning time of 22.298.

This is the team 48's first victory in the event, since its inception in 2005.

"In this discipline, the athleticism and training really pays off," Johnson said of his team. "We made a big effort to get full-fledged athletes who did nothing but work on their pit stops and disciplines. And then they focused on this -- the distance to run, the car push and all that -- and I think it just shows how strong they are, how physically able they are to get the job done."

The Lowe's team defeated the Wood Bros. No. 21 and the Joe Gibbs No. 20 to return to the finals, a rematch of last year's championship bout. Unlike last year, Chad Knaus' over-the-wall team would not be denied.

Both teams were evenly matched during the individual phases, with Johnson's team just barely getting to their car first. The Lowe's team put it away on the strip, out-pushing their competition to the start-finish line, completing the stop in just over 22 seconds - the fastest stop of the night.

Members of the winning team consists of TJ Ford (jack man), Brandon Harder (gas man), Dave Collins (front tire), RJ Barnette (front tire), Calvin Teague (rear tire) and Matt Tyrrell (rear tire). They are coached by Greg Morin.

In addition to deciding the first pit stall for Saturday's All-Star Race, the My Lowe's No. 48 also took home $80,675 for their winning efforts. Previous winners of the event include the Gibbs No. 11 (two times), Richard Childress No. 31, Red Bull Racing No. 83, Penske No. 12, Dale Earnhardt Inc. No. 1 and Evernham Racing No. 9.

After seven months and 16 races, Jimmie Johnson finally gift-wrapped Rick Hendrick his 200^th career win as an owner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

For a moment, it looked like we might have had a repeat of Martinsville. After all, the race was decided on a green-white-checkered finish with Johnson restarting in front of two of the most aggressive drivers in NASCAR history in Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.

But unlike Martinsville, Johnson cleared the competition on the restart and sailed away to win the Southern 500 by over half a second on Saturday night at Darlington Speedway.

"You gotta love that man. He just said 200's great, but let's go get 250," Johnson said after a postrace exchange in victory lane with his car owner. "So it tells you where his head is. I love it!"

The race came down to a fuel mileage gamble with Johnson, Stewart and Busch last pitting on lap 367. That meant the leaders would need to go at least 67 laps on a track that has a fuel window of 65-70 laps.

Each of the leaders took their chances by running on the apron and flipping their starters off under the caution. Fortunately for them, the yellow flag dropped in bunches, falling four times for 16 laps. That proved to be enough for Johnson to cruise to victory.

With the green-white-checkered finish, the leaders went 69 laps without pitting, which was enough for Johnson but not enough for Stewart. He ran out of gas and stalled on the final restart but rallied to finish P3. Denny Hamlin picked-off second. Busch and Martin Truex completed the top-5.

The Southern 500 wasn't quite as magical for Johnson's HMS teammate, Jeff Gordon. The four-time champion's disappointing season continued on Saturday night, cutting three tires and eventually going to the garage with an unknown problem. He finished in 35^th and now sits 24^th in the championship standings. The All-Star Break can't come soon enough for the 24 team.

Much like last year's race, the 2012 Southern 500 featured some late-race theatrics between Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman's...gas man.

Busch had brought out the final caution by cutting a tire and spinning in front of Newman with six laps to go. Busch slapped the turn three wall and nearly gathered it up before hitting the turn four wall and spinning in front of Newman.

Both Busch and Newman drifted towards the inside retaining wall, collected damage, and finished in 21^st and 23^rd respectively. But it didn't end there.

Busch sped through Newman's pit stall after the race and nearly made contact with several of Newman's crew. In response, gas man Andy Rueger (Seymour, IN) charged at Busch and had to be restrained by NASCAR officials.

Busch and Newman talked it over after the race and appeared to set their differences aside. It has to be a frustrating finish for both drivers. Busch was having his best run of the year on a non-restrictor plate track, staying consistently within the top-10, while Newman is fighting to secure a Chase spot.

That's a snapshot of the Southern 500. It's still one of NASCAR's crown jewels and it brings out the best and worst of the Sprint Cup garage.

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, Rick Hendrick, and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. It's been a long and storied road to 200 wins and its likely just getting started.

Onto Charlotte Motor Speedway and the All-Star Break. Content editor Matt Weaver will be in attendance, providing live coverage of the Pit Crew Challenge, Camping World Truck Series race and the 28^th All-Star Race. Follow his updates on the website or on Twitter @MattWeaverSBN.

The complete rundown and a video of the Busch/Newman conflict can be found after the jump!

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I'm finishing up college finals before hitting the road for more races this summer. Before I do, here are some leftover notes that didn't get posted immediately after Talladega. Enjoy!

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Driver opinions were mixed following the conclusion of Sunday's Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR successfully eliminated the two-car draft at Daytona but created a rules package that's resulting in a rash of overheating engines at Talladega.

Both Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards were victimized by the ‘big one' on lap 14 but had different opinions on the new rules package.

"This [temperature] thing is a big joke and they've got to address it," Gordon said. "You can't even race out there because you're watching the guages. There's pack racing and that's great. But when you can't run in the fifth and sixth positions without overheating, there are problems there.

"I don't even know what we're going to do (at Daytona) in July."

Gordon's concerns stem from the fact that the Daytona 500 was ran at night in March, at temperatures of 78 degrees. When NASCAR returns to Daytona in July, the temperatures are expected to reach up to 90 degrees - the same temperature that plagued engines in Sunday's race.

Unlike Gordon, Edwards' temperatures were green all day, leading the Roush-Fenway driver to praise the new rules package.

"I think this is the best package we've ever had," Edwards said. "My temperatures were great all day. We didn't have any trouble until we got caught up in the wreck."

The issue seems more pronounced for Chevrolet teams, judging by the problems faced by Gordon, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson. Ford and Dodge have now won the last two restrictor plate races while Chevrolet has been relegated to the back in search of clean air.

NASCAR faces an interesting decision leading up to Daytona. If fan response to Talladega is positive, while driver response is overwhelmingly negative, which direction will they go?

What they're saying (Talladega Pack Racing)

Matt Kenseth: NASCAR will look at it. They have a better idea of where everyone ran than we do...It gets hot in the back. It was just so hard to push.

Kyle Busch: It's what everyone wanted. The pack is back. We saw two lanes and three lanes throughout the race...The outside lane wasn't as fast -- it's the slowest way around.

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Brad Keselowki got a shove from Kyle Busch on the first green-white-checkered attempt, built-up a breakaway lead over the rest of the pack, and separated from Busch to win the Aarons 499 Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.

The leader on the last lap has traditionally been a sitting duck coming down to the finish, a fact not lost on Keselowski. The Penske driver had formulated a plan for this exact scenario and was able to use it coming down to the finish.

"The guy running in second should have the advantage, but I had this move all worked up in my mind," Keselowski said. "I went into turn 3 high and pulled down off of Kyle and broke-up the tandem. That allowed me to drive untouched to the checkered flag. It wasn't easy to convince myself to do that, but it was the right move."

That move prevented Busch from setting-up a slingshot pass that could have given him back-to-back wins.

"We knew to get connected to Brad but we didn't do it soon enough," Busch said. "Finally we did get connected and we passed everyone. We got to turn 3 and I got unhooked. I hated that it happened but once it did, the race was over.

"I'm not sure if he did anything but if he did, he's pretty smart. But I just think we just came unplugged."

The most dominant car of the afternoon was Matt Kenseth, who led a race-high 78 laps and was the leader coming to the final restart. Kenseth built up a massive lead over Greg Biffle and allowed the tandem of Keselowski and Busch to fly by on the backstretch.

Kenseth said that he didn't pay attention to Biffle's location and didn't drag his brakes enough to let him connect to his bumper. Once Kenseth built up the massive lead, there was nothing he could do to stop the tandem of Keselowski and Busch from passing.

"I just did a poor job of staying with Greg," Kenseth said. "We had a really fast car all day and nobody could really stay attached...I should have just drug the brakes and kept him with me. By the time he was attached I had way too big of a lead."

Kenseth finished in third and Biffle in fifth.

Keep reading after the jump!

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TALLADEGA, Ala. - Much has been made about Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the possibility of him returning to victory lane in today's Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

After all he has five wins and 11 top 10s and it's considered one of his best tracks. And after a strong start to the season that included 7 top-10s (in nine races) and a strong-hold on second-place in the championship standings, it looks as if Earnhardt is due.

But if this is a discussion about which perennial Talladega contender is due for a win, we're talking about pole-sitter Jeff Gordon. Gordon is off to possibly the worst start of his career, with no wins and only two top-10s. But that doesn't tell the whole story.

Gordon has had fast cars this year, and should have won at Martinsville and had strong runs negated at Bristol and Kansas at no fault of his own.

"When your cars are running good, it's nice to be able to check that off the list," Gordon said. "Because that's the hardest thing there is to do in this sport - to have fast race cars. This is where I credit (crew chief) Alan Gustafson, he is a great leader and a positive guy. He's keeping this team together, upbeat and positive despite all that we've been through.

"We've just got to put full races together."

Continue reading this post »

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Talladega Superspeedway might see something on a Saturday that it hasn't seen in a long time - a packed house for its annual Nationwide Series race. The race weekend was moved from April to May during the preseason schedule shuffle and everyone in attendance can feel every degree.

That decision was made to avoid the April showers that have plagued the race over the last several years. Thus far, only a pop-up shower during Nationwide Series qualifying has halted the festivities.

But it's also had a positive impact on attendance with the campgrounds appearing noticeably fuller and the traffic lines discernibly longer. NASCAR doesn't release attendance figures and estimates won't be made until the green flag drops but a packed house would be a welcome sight for Talladega president Grant Lynch who's had to cover seats over the last few seasons to hide the mass of empty box seats.

An exciting tandem of races might be exactly what NASCAR needs to distance itself from the attendance woes from over the past few seasons.

A drawback to this weekend will definitely be the heat.

Temperatures were in the mid-80s for Friday's twin practice sessions and are expected to reach 90 for this weekend's Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup races respectively. Some teams have compensated by installing cooling fans on the floor for their driver's feet.

"I'm not worried about it," Tony Stewart said. "The hotter it is the better. I like it. I'm not worried about temperature inside the car. I'm more worried about the motor than myself right now."

That's because NASCAR mandated major changes to the cooling system prior to the Daytona 500 to help eliminate the tandem draft seen at Daytona and Talladega in recent years. NASCAR ordered smaller-capacity radiators and an overall reduction in system pressure. The changes resulted in a more traditional restrictor plate race. The last restrictor plate race was run at Daytona, at night, and featured temperatures near 68 degrees.

A daytime restrictor plate race at 90 degrees changes everything.

"It's going to be a lot harder to keep your car cool enough and not let it get heat soaked," Kyle Busch said. "It gives you a set amount of time you can push and you're just kind of limited on what you can do based off the water temperature."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won here five times but none since 2004 and says this is how it used to be when his family here in July - yeah they inexplicably used to do that.

Not that you can tell in today's weather - it may as well be July.

So let's see, what should we talk about? An all Busch Bros. weekend? Dale Jr.'s second place finish? Jimmie Johnson's pit crew blunder? Tony Stewart's poor re-start? Or Carl Edward's black flag?

Care to add another?

If you missed any of the above mentioned please view the video.