Fourteenth for No. 14 in Sprint All-Star Race

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

Tony Stewart had a relatively quiet night in the 29th running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/National Wild Turkey Federation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), started 13th and finished 14th in the annual non-points race featuring drivers who have won a race in 2012 or 2013, in addition to All-Star Race winners and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions from the past 10 years.

The 90-lap race around the 1.5-mile oval was broken up into five segments of 20 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps and 10 laps. Throughout the race, Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet proved fitful in the corners.

“Loose late exit, then tight the rest of the way through,” said Stewart on lap 35. “No stability throughout the corner,” he said on lap 58.

From there, Stewart and crew chief Steve Addington used the rest of the race as a test session as they tried to determine what ailed their racecar.

“Keep your heads up, guys,” said Stewart over the radio after the checkered flag dropped. “We’ll figure this out. Just have to keep working at it.”

The 14th-place finish was Stewart’s 13th top-15 result in 15 career All-Star Races.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Aspen Dental Chevrolet for SHR, finished 13th to notch his 11th top-15 in 12 career All-Star Races.

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Cares Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 20th in her first career All-Star Race.

Patrick earned entry into the race by being the recipient of the fan vote on NASCAR.com. Patrick was eligible for the fan vote by competing in the Sprint Showdown, the undercard event to the All-Star Race. Patrick started seventh in the 40-lap race, which was broken up into two 20-lap segments. She finished ninth in both segments.

Jamie McMurray won the Sprint Showdown to advance into the All-Star Race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished second to McMurray to also advance into the All-Star Race.

Jimmie Johnson won the All-Star Race, his record-breaking fourth victory in 12 All-Star starts, breaking a tie with Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt for the most All-Star Race wins. Johnson’s past All-Star Race victories came in 2003, 2006 and 2012.

Joey Logano finished 1.722 seconds behind Johnson in the runner-up spot, while Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five. Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards comprised the remainder of the top-10.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to point-paying racing Sunday, May 26 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. The longest race on the Sprint Cup schedule gets underway at 6 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning at 5:30 p.m.

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