Dale Earnhardt Jr. News

Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo brands Pepsi and Mountain Dew announced their summertime promotion, "Iconic Summer," which will offer fans the chance to win prizes and exclusive experiences.

Even kids who usually squirm in their car seats might jump at the chance to sit in the lap of a superhero like Batman or such cartoon characters as Dora the Explorer or SpongeBob SquarePants.

At the height of his father's success at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Tom Sorensen has been a columnist at The Observer for 20 years and has been at the paper for 25, writing about nearly every sport in the Carolinas.

STAR RACE A GREAT PLACE TO GET MARRIED: When John and Monica Russell decided to get married, they knew exactly where to do it.

Jamie McMurray took care of business in the Sprint Showdown Saturday night winning the race handily to propel him into one of the three available spots for the Sprint All Star field to race for a potential $2 million payout.

At the height of his father's success at Charlotte Motor Speedway , Dale Earnhardt Jr.

At the height of his father's success at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Carl Edwards won the pole for the Sprint All-Star race by completing three laps and a four-tire pit stop in 1 minute, 51.297 seconds.

Hunched a bit from a childhood fall, Dick Trickle would hold a cigarette in one hand and a coffee in the other.

Trickle, a long-time Lincoln County resident, was found dead next to his pick-up truck just after noon.

Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway Event: Sprint Showdown and All-Star Race Date: Saturday, May 18 Time: 7:30 PM ET TV/Radio: FOX Sports SPEED / MRN Radio All-Star: Last year, Bobby Labonte transferred into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star race by the way of the Sprint Fan Vote.

By no means set, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field does seem to be taking shape.

STAR RACE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified for the All-Star Race by winning a NASCAR Sprint Cup event during the 2012 season.

It's race month in Charlotte, but yet another indication of NASCAR's diminished fortunes can be seen in a new ranking of the highest-paid American athletes.

There are two ways Danica Patrick can qualify for the Sprint All-Star race on Saturday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway: She can either finish first or second in the Sprint Showdown qualifying race or she can win a fan vote.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. greets the fans before the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 21, 2011 in Charlotte, North Carolina Across almost three decades of competition, the Sprint All-Star Race has had more formats than Taylor Swift has had bad boyfriends.

With four autographs and four race-used memorabilia cards in every box, it's the largest number of hits in a 2013 Press Pass racing set.

Clint Bowyer, series runner-up last year, looks to be one of the six locks to make what's looking like a wide-open NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase field.

Daytona International Speedway will offer a special ticket package for the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event on Saturday night, July 6 at the "World Center of Racing" that includes a question and answer session with No.