Defending champ Edwards out of All-Star race

“I can’t believe they let us come out here and tear these things up a little bit,” Bowyer said. “That’s pretty hard on equipment. Who would have ever thought that all of those years of snow-packed parking lots back in the Midwest would have ever paid off at a burnout contest at Charlotte in a competition at the All-Star race.

“That’s how I won this, a lot of years under the radar in parking lots doing doughnuts! I was watching Kasey (Kahne) and we were all talking about how to get the car in second gear, because that is where you get the most smoke. I got the car in a drift and got it in second gear a little quicker than the other guys, and I think that was what gave us the most smoke.”

Bowyer is donating the $10,000 first place check to his charity _ the Employee Community Foundation in his hometown of Emporia, Kan.

___

DANICA‘S IMPACT ON NASCAR: Danica Patrick has brought more visibility to the sport _ not that NASCAR Chairman Brian France expected anything different.

But France said Patrick’s true impact at stock car’s top level won’t be known for some time.

“That will be determined by how well she competes and that is what will determine the impact at the end,” France said. “Nobody knows that better than she does… Most importantly, I think she’s made improvements and that was her stated goal and she’s getting better and better.”

___

GROW ONE, SAVE A MILLION: If Kevin Harvick starts looking a little scruffy in coming weeks, forgive him. He’s doing it for a good cause. Harvick and his crew pledged not to shave as part of Budweiser’s “Grow One. Save a Million” program, which is designed to help save one million gallons of water for World Environment Day on June 5.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.