Select Earnhardt as this year's fan vote for the Sprint All-Star Race

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Starting today, race fans can cast their ballots for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to receive the Sprint Fan Vote for this year’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

There are three ways the driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet can gain entry into the exhibition event, which will be held May 21 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He can win one of the next seven NASCAR Sprint Cup events, receive the fan vote or he must be one of the top two finishers in the Sprint Showdown, the qualifying races for the All-Star Race. If Earnhardt is voted in, he needs to finish the Sprint Showdown on the lead lap and keep his car in "raceable" condition for the All-Star Race, which will begin at 9 p.m. ET.

Here is how you can cast your vote:
-Online. Click here for the full ballot. You can vote online once an hour.

-Visit the Sprint Experience at the racetrack. The voting booth will be set up starting with this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Auto Club Speedway.

-On your Sprint handset. Sprint customers can vote using the NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile application on their Sprint or Nextel devices. To download the NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile app, available at no additional cost with any data plan, Sprint customers should text "NASCAR" to 7777. Customers can also vote by texting "VOTE" to 7777 on their Sprint or Nextel devices (standard text messaging and data rates apply).

Fan voting will conclude at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 21 – the evening of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt went to Victory Lane in the 2000 Sprint All-Star event, after leading two laps. Drivers eligible for this year’s event must have won the exhibition race during the last 10 years or have taken the checkered flag in a Cup race during the 2010-11 seasons. That’s how Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates qualify. Jeff Gordon, a three-time winner of the All-Star Race, most recently drove his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet to Victory Lane at Phoenix International Raceway on Feb. 27.

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, is a two-time winner of the May race and most recently went to Victory Lane there in 2006.

Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, also is a two-time winner. In 2005, he started from the outside pole position and led 24 laps on his way to his most recent win at the 1.5-mile speedway.