Hornish, McMurray, Logano Advance to All-Star Race
Jamie McMurray finished second to advance to his fourth all-star race. Stremme finished third, followed by David Reutimann and Joey Logano.
Logano won the Sprint Fan Vote and will make his first start in the Sprint All-Star Race.
Hornish passed his Penske Racing teammate David Stremme just before the fourth caution flag on lap 25 and then sped away on the restart to advance to the big show for the second straight year.
"I wish we didn't have to race our way in again, but it feels good," said Hornish. "I was really happy how everything worked out for us, I love coming here and running at Lowe's. It's been a real fun track for me ever since we came here and ran the All-Star race last year."
Hornish started sixth in the 35-car field behind Stremme, who led the field too the green flag after the front row of Kirk Shelmerdine and Carl Long had to drop to the rear of the field.
Stremme led the first 20 laps until the end of the first segment with Hornish in second, followed by Martin Truex, Jr., Dave Blaney and Juan Pablo Montoya.
Under green again for the second 20-lap segment, Hornish followed closely behind Stremme, pulling to the inside in a side-by-side battle with 16 laps to go before pulling ahead as the caution flag waved when Elliott Sadler hit the wall in turn 2.
McMurray fought his way through the field from his 28th-place starting spot after electing not to pit between the first two 20-lap segments, plagued with an oil-smeared windshield that made it difficult to see.
"It was pretty bad," said McMurray of the windshield problem. "It happened on like the first lap. When the oil got on it, it wasn't that bad, but then when we went back to green, they put some oil-dry down and when that hit the oil on the windshield it started smearing.
"I really wanted to pit at that halfway point to put tires on, but you know you're not gonna make it back up through the field. Our Crown Royal Ford Fusion is really good, though. I think we should be really good for this All-Star Race."
Rookie Joey Logano finished fifth in the Sprint Showdown and received the most votes among the fans to advance to the final position in the All-Star race.
"There are a lot of big names in that race. To have a lot more fans vote for me is neat," said Logano. "The Sprint Fan Vote is one of the coolest things here. It's awesome. I can't thank the fans enough. I can't believe a rookie coming into this series can get the fan support like that' and I'm so thankful right now.
"I'll do the best I can in the Sprint All-Star Race. This is going to be a lot of fun tonight. I'm looking forward to it."
Pete McCole at Lowe's Motor Speedway