Sam Hornish Jr. and Jamie McMurray finished first and second in Saturday's Sprint Showdown at Lowe's Motor Speedway to earn the two transfer positions into the Sprint All-Star Race to follow.

Hornish won a transfer spot for the second straight year, but in Saturday's race, he improved one position from 2009, when he finished second to AJ Allmendinger in the qualifying race. McMurray ran second despite limited visibility, thanks to oil smeared on his windshield.

David Stremme, Hornish's teammate at Penske Racing, had his #12 Dodge in the lead after the first of two 20-lap segments but faded to third after McMurray passed him for the runner-up spot on lap 27 of 40 at the 1.5-mile speedway.

Rookie Joey Logano, the fifth-place finisher in the Showdown, nevertheless qualified for the All-Star Race as the winner of the Fan Vote.

David Reutimann claimed fourth place in the Showdown.

"We knew we had a fast racecar," Hornish said. "We raced this piece at California and also at Texas. I'm tired of having to race our way into this thing, but it gives us a little bit of an idea about what it's going to be like in the All-Star Race.

"This is the first time we've ever won anything in stock cars, and I'm pretty happy about that."

The two Penske cars and McMurray's Ford were among the cars that remained on the track during the break between the two 20-lap segments, while approximately half the field came to pit road for new tires and fuel. Stremme and Hornish led the field to the restart for the second segment, and the call to stay on the track proved to be the winning move.

by Reid Spencer/Sporting News