Blaney fans called on to get out the vote

YOUNGSTOWN — Dave Blaney fans are being called upon to get the Hartford native into this weekend’s NASCAR All-Star race.

Blaney is in a competition with fellow NASCAR drivers for one of the sports in Saturday night’s race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

For the remainder of this week, the NASCAR drivers will depend on their hometown supporters and fans to vote them into one of the biggest races of the year.

The popular Fan Vote is a highlight of the All-Star weekend where fans will ultimately decide which driver receives the last entry into the race and a chance at the $1 million payout.

Sprint recently announced the top 10 vote-getters (in alphabetical order): AJ Allmendinger, Bill Elliott, Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Elliott Sadler, Martin Truex Jr. and Michael Waltrip.

Blaney is eligible for the spot, but need needs some help to climb back into the running.

Voting doesn’t end until Saturday at 7:30 p.m., so fans have plenty of chances to get him into the race.

Fans can go to NASCAR.com to make their selection. They can also text the word “NASCAR” to “7777” on their Sprint Phones or by visiting a Sprint store.

Fans are also encouraged to visit Ask.com to read about the drivers before making their voting selection.

Eighteen of the 21 drivers in the All-Star race are already locked in.

They are Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte and Carl Edwards.

Saturday night’s race is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on the SPEED channel.