HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – May 12, 2009 – Sprint announced the names of the top 10 drivers leading the Sprint Fan Vote, a voting competition driven by fans awarding one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team a position in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday, May 16.

The top 10 drivers in the Sprint Fan Vote as of May 12 (in alphabetical order) are AJ Allmendinger, Bill Elliott, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Juan Pablo Montoya, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Elliott Sadler, Martin Truex Jr. and Michael Waltrip.

The top eight in the standings are separated by less than 20,000 votes and the top two are separated by less than 4,000 votes. Votes placed on Sprint phones count double, which could cut the margin in half.

Close competition among drivers has sparked personal messages to fans for last-minute support. The Sprint Fan Vote closes at 7:30 p.m. (EDT) May 16.

Richard Petty, team owner of Richard Petty Motorsports – “I guess if there is any team in NASCAR that’s more thankful to the fans, it is us. The fans voted Kasey (Kahne) into the race last year, and he went and won the thing. It wouldn’t be too bad if that happened again. I don’t care if it is AJ (Allmendinger), Reed (Sorenson) or Elliott (Sadler). Once you are in, anything can happen.”

AJ Allmendinger, driver of the No. 44 Hunt Brothers Pizza Dodge – “I’m not taking any chances. I’m kicking off my campaign to get the most Sprint Fan Votes. I’ll do anything to get into that race. I think I’m going to use the next few days to campaign for votes harder than Barack Obama and John McCain did in the last election. I’ll promise anything! I don’t mind bribing the voters. Whatever works is my motto.”

Casey Mears, driver of the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet – “The fans have a lot of options, but I hope they look in our direction for the Sprint Fan Vote. It’s been a rough start to the year for us, but we’re a very credible race team that can go out and win. We’d love to be in the Sprint All-Star Race. We’ve been pushing hard for the fans and everybody to vote for us in the Sprint Fan Vote. We’ll see how it all plays out, but I think if you look at everyone out there, I’d say the Jack Daniel’s team is just as deserving, if not more, than everyone else.”

David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford – “It would be pretty neat if we were lucky enough to get the Sprint Fan Vote, but we’re going to race our UPS Ford as hard as we can in the Sprint Showdown, no matter the outcome. Our entire team really appreciates all the support that the fans give our sport, so to get the Sprint Fan Vote would be pretty cool.”

Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Best Buy Dodge – “If the fans vote for us to get into the Sprint All-Star Race, I am going to rent a dunking booth. The day of the Coca-Cola 600, I am going to put it out in front of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and our fans can come out and dunk me in the dunking booth. All the money spent to do that, we’re going to give to Speedway Children’s Charities. I think that’s a cool way to do it. Whether you love me or hate me, you can come dunk me underwater. It’s a cool little twist we can put on things to get a vote for the Sprint All-Star Race.”

Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota – “Hopefully our fans want to see us win the Sprint All-Star Race. That’s definitely the plan, to go win it. It’s a fun race. It’s always a blast to be in it because there are no points. Just drive as hard as you can absolutely drive and come home with the steering wheel and the checkered flag.”

Voting is available through the following channels:
*On Sprint phones text “NASCAR” to 7777 to download NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile to cast a vote (standard text messaging and data rates apply)
*At participating Sprint retail stores
*Trackside at the Sprint Experience
*Online at http://www.nascar.com/promos/allstar/