NASCAR

All-Star Showdown pre-race notes

* Grand National Champions Prepare For Toyota All-Star Showdown * Twelve Drivers Lock Up A Spot With A Grand National Victory In 2007 * SPEED To Televise Action To A National Audience Logano, David among NASCAR champions headed to Showdown After ...

Edited: Oct 5, 2007, 4:42 AM

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* Grand National Champions Prepare For Toyota All-Star Showdown
* Twelve Drivers Lock Up A Spot With A Grand National Victory In 2007
* SPEED To Televise Action To A National Audience

Logano, David among NASCAR champions headed to Showdown

After each clinched a championship this season in the NASCAR Grand National Division, Joey Logano (No. 10 Joe Gibbs Driven Chevrolet) and Mike David (No. 2 Bennett Lane Winery Ford) have turned their attention to this year's NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown.

David, who wrapped up the Grand National West Series title by a 114-point margin in the season finale on Sept. 15, is a series veteran making his fourth appearance in the prestigious post-season event.

As a 17-year-old rookie who clinched the Busch East Series title by 166 points in the final series race on Friday, Sept. 21, Logano will be making his first trip to the All-Star event.

This year's NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, slated for Oct. 19-20, will be returning to Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway for the fifth consecutive year. Designed to bring together the top drivers in the Grand National Division, the Showdown has quickly become known as "the Daytona 500" of the NASCAR Developmental Series.

Champions earn their spot in the All-Star Showdown

"Everyone who's been there says it's awesome; that you can run well anywhere on the race track," Logano said. "We're looking forward to going there.

"I didn't have any idea when I was watching the race on TV last year that I'd be driving in it this year. I watched it because it was a race on TV and it looked exciting."

David was in that race, finishing third behind Busch East drivers Matt Kobyluck and Sean Caisse. David was 15th in 2004 and 14th in 2005.

"The first couple years, we didn't have any luck at all," David said. "We normally do well at Irwindale. It will be a fun time."

David was fifth when the West Series ran at Irwindale July 4. He discounts any advantage, though, from previous experience.

"It's the same routine," David said. "You don't have to be as conservatie because you're not running for points. Other than that, it's business as usual."

Champions from each NASCAR Developmental Series are elgible for "protected spots" in the starting lineup. In addition to the Busch East Series and West Series in the Grand National Division, invitees include the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, the NASCAR Mexico Series and the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. In addition to the champions, drivers who won NASCAR Grand National Division events in 2007 also locked up starting spots in the Showdown.

This year's event will feature time trials and the last-chance "Open" race on Friday, Oct. 19. Also new for 2007 is the addition of a $10,000-to-win, 150-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super Late Model race on Friday night, providing an opportunity for some of the nation's best short-track drivers to shine on a national stage.

-credit: NASCAR

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