Practice #1 : North Wilkesboro Speedway

• Thursday, May 15th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Logano Eyes Back-to-Back All-Star Wins as Cup Champ Returns to Historic North Wilkesboro

If you‘re trying to find a predictor of the eventual NASCAR Cup Series champion, the winner of the NASCAR All-Star Race might be a good place to look.

In three of the last five years, the All-Star Race winner has gone on to win the title: Chase Elliott at Bristol in 2020; Kyle Larson at Texas Motor Speedway in 2021; and Joey Logano at North Wilkesboro Speedway last year.

Add Ryan Blaney’s All-Star victory at Texas in 2022, and you have another impressive statistic: the organization that has won the All-Star Race has won the Cup championship in four of the last five years—Hendrick Motorsports in 2020 and 2021 and Team Penske in 2022 and 2024.

Moreover, Logano credits last year’s March 14 tire test at North Wilkesboro, leading up to the All-Star Race, as one of the factors that flipped the switch for Team Penske and propelled him toward his third Cup championship.

As one of 20 drivers already qualified for the event, Logano will defend his victory in Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at the iconic 0.625-mile short track (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I’m looking forward to getting up there,” Logano said. “The track’s really wide for a repave. It’s a really good race track. I’m looking forward to seeing where it gets to this year. Last year it widened all the way out to the wall…

“Where the dominant lane is will be interesting, even in qualifying.”

Three more drivers will be added to the 20-driver field before the green flag, two from the 100-lap All-Star Open and one chosen through the All-Star Fan Vote.

Qualifying for both the Open and All-Star Race will take place on Friday and includes a Pit Crew Challenge component. Those time trials will set the starting order for a pair of Saturday heat races that will determine the grid for the All-Star Race.

The first 75-lap heat sets the order for the inside row of the All-Star lineup, with the second heat ordering the outside row. The qualifiers from the Open and Fan Vote will be added to the rear of the field.

Front Row Motorsports driver Noah Gragson has won the last two Fan Votes. Josh Berry and Ty Gibbs are the two Open winners at North Wilkesboro. Berry already is eligible for this year’s All-Star Race because of his victory at Las Vegas in March.

The All-Star Race itself is scheduled for 250 laps (up from the 200 laps run in the first two editions of the race at North Wilkesboro), with a competition caution to take place at or around Lap 100.

In addition, a single, optional promoter’s caution—at the discretion of Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Marcus Smith—can be used to reshape the race before Lap 220 but cannot be used after Lap 200 if preempted by a naturally occurring caution.

There are six former winners of the NASCAR All-Star Race already qualified for Sunday’s 41st running of the event: Larson, Logano, Blaney, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

Larson has three All-Star Race victories to his credit (2019, 2021 and 2023) and can tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson for most all-time with another win.

Hendrick Motorsports has compiled a series-best 11 All-Star victories. Team Penske is next with five. Busch claimed the most recent All-Star victory for Toyota in 2017.

Logano relishes not only the competition but also the history North Wilkesboro embodies.

“It was shut down for years, just sitting there empty,” Logano said. “Now you see it come back, and so many people are there. They did such a tasteful job renovating the place, where they’ve kept a lot of that old feeling but a lot of the newer amenities fans have become accustomed to.”

• Saturday, May 17th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Keselowski Grabs All-Star Spotlight with Pole Run, McDowell Crew Steals Pit Show

A flawless entry into pit road during Friday’s time trials propelled Brad Keselowski to the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In a unique qualifying format that features three laps and a four-tire pit stop, Keselowski and his team posted a total time of 87.363 seconds (77.264 mph) to earn the top starting spot both for Saturday’s first of two heats and for the $1-million-to-win main event on Sunday.

In a major upset during the All-Star Open qualifying session that preceded time trials for drivers already qualified for the All-Star Race, Michael McDowell’s over-the-wall crew, composed of ex-football players, won the $100,000 Pit Crew Challenge.

The No. 71 Spire Motorsports crew fired off a stop in 12.587 seconds, and that time stood up against the 20 All-Star crews that followed. Daniel Suarez’s crew came closest with a lap in 12.600 seconds.

For Keselowski, the pole was a welcome high point in a season that has been difficult so far. He’s currently 33rd in the Cup Series standings, with no top 10s and five DNFs (did not finish) through 12 races.

“This event, this format pushes you to your limits, from a driver perspective, a team perspective, pit crew,” Keselowski said. “I stuck my part—I knew I stuck the entry (to pit road). The exit, I was like ‘Maybe I left a little on the table’—it’s really hard to tell.

“But it all came together for an excellent run. The pit crew, they didn’t try to be heroes. They just gave me a really solid stop. (Crew chief) Jeremy Bullins and the team gave me a car that was pretty fast. They just gave me the ball and said, ‘Go play,’ and that’s what we did.”

Christopher Bell and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team, the two-time defending winners of the Pit Crew Challenge, qualified second at 76.485 mph (88.253 seconds). Slight trouble on the left front tire cost Bell’s crew a chance for a third straight $100,000 bonus.

Alex Bowman was third fastest, followed by Chase Briscoe, William Byron and defending winner and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano.

Though Keselowski is guaranteed to start on the pole for the All-Star Race, Friday’s qualifying session set the order for the two heat races on Saturday. The first heat establishes the starting order for the inside row in the All-Star Race, while the second heat orders the outside row.

Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott were seventh-through 10th fastest, respectively.

Using his road racing prowess to get on and off pit road in the unique qualifying format, New Zealand’s Shane van Gisbergen won the pole position for the NASCAR All-Star Open, which precedes the All-Star Race on Sunday night.

The top two finishers in the Open transfer to the 21st and 22nd starting positions in the main event.

In his three-lap attempt with a four-tire pit stop, Van Gisbergen recorded a time of 88.685 seconds (75.112 mph). That was good enough to edge Carson Hocevar (75.942 mph) for the top starting spot in the Open by 0.199 seconds.

Van Gisbergen’s total time also was 1.109 seconds faster than Logano’s pole-winning time for last year’s All-Star Race, which Logano won decisively, leading 199 of 200 laps.

“I did a decent job getting in and out of pit road,” Van Gisbergen said, “but my guys did a great pit stop, too (13.175 seconds)… It’s been difficult on the left-handed tracks, but I feel like we are getting better, though.

“I guess my actual lap was good, too, so things are starting to look up.”

Noah Gragson was third-fastest among Open qualifiers at 75.338 mph. Michael McDowell was fourth in time trials, thanks in part to his pit crew, which won the Pit Crew Competition and $100,000 bonus.

Crew members on McDowell’s team are Dax Hollifield (jackman), Max Marsh (front tire changer), Ty Boeck (rear tire changer), Luke Bussel (tire carrier) and Brandon Chapman (fueler).

• Sunday, May 18th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Bell Scores $1 Million Payday with Bold Late Pass on Logano in All-Star Showdown

Fireworks lit up the sky, and smoke billowed from the tires of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as Christopher Bell celebrated his first victory in the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

On Sunday night, Bell climbed from his car to a standing ovation. Scratch that—virtually everyone in the packed grandstands already had been standing for the final 28 lap green-flag run, as Bell battled Joey Logano side-by-side and finally cleared last year’s winner for the lead on Lap 241 of 250.

At that point, Bell had better right-side tires than Logano, who had stayed out under the promoter’s caution signaled by unofficial flagman Michael Waltrip on Lap 215.

Bell pitted for two tires under the yellow, restarted sixth on Lap 223 behind five cars that stayed out and quickly advanced to second with a pass of Ross Chastain on Lap 227.

From that point, it was game-on for Bell, who pursued Logano relentlessly. On Lap 241, Bell pulled even with Logano, drifted out toward the wall, taking Logano with him and completed the decisive pass. His winning margin was 0.744 seconds.

“North Wilkesboro, how about that one?” Bell shouted after climbing from his car with the smoke still lingering from his celebratory burnout. “That right there is absolutely incredible. North Wilkesboro, best short track on the schedule.”

The victory was the first for a Toyota driver since JGR’s Kyle Busch took the checkered flag in 2017.

Logano, who led 199 of 200 laps in last year’s All-Star Race victory at the historic 0.625-mile short track, led a race-high 139 laps on Sunday to 28 for Bell. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford held a comfortable lead when the yellow flag for the promoter’s caution—a new wrinkle introduced by Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith—slowed the action, forced a pit stop choice and bunched the field.

“I’m pissed off right now,” Logano said. “Just dang it, we had the fastest car. The Shell-Pennzoil Mustang was so fast. You get to… I’m trying to choose my words correctly on the caution situation. Obviously, I got bit by it, so I am the one frustrated, obviously….

“I’m all about no gimmicks with the caution. I am all about that. I’m a little… me and Marcus Smith aren’t seeing eye to eye right now, OK? I’ve got to have a word with him.”

The caution and the tire disadvantage ultimately prevented Logano from winning his second straight All-Star Race and third overall.

“Thought maybe we could hold him off, but the 20 had a good enough restart, cleared too many of them too fast,” Logano said. “I couldn’t get away in time. It took me six, seven laps to get my car up and rolling again.

“I did all I could do to hold him off, and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option. Kind of just ran me up into the wall, and if I could’ve got to him, he was going around after a move like that. I just couldn’t get back to him. Just too much to try to make up with the tire deficit.

“Just frustrated after you lead so many laps and the car is so fast and you don’t win, it hurts quite a bit.”

It hurt even more because first prize money for the exhibition race is $1 million, and second place pays a small fraction of that amount. Bell was happy to line his pockets with the lion’s share of the purse.

It was the quality of the competition, however, that excited Bell the most.

“Man, that was an amazing race,” he said. “There were so many guys up there racing for the lead. We saw two-wide, three-wide for the lead. It’s just a pleasure to race here, and especially whenever you get to drive this Mobil 1 Toyota Camry.

“These boys (the No. 20 crew) have done such a good job on this thing. I told them going into it, this was the best car we’ve had in a long time. Joey was fast. He gave us a lot of competition, and the 12 (Ryan Blaney) was really good there and the 9 (Chase Elliott). They had competitive cars. The strategy—we knew it would be all over the place and it fell our way.”

Bell acknowledged that the urgency of passing Logano in the closing run forced him to push the issue.

“He did a great job of trying to keep me behind him, and I knew that once I got that run off Turn 4, it was like alright, I’m going to have to be a little more aggressive and kind of leaned on him and got him out of position.

“I knew once I got the lead, I had the tire advantage so I should be able to cruise, and it worked out that way.”

On the same tire strategy as Logano, Chastain held third at the finish, followed by Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman, Elliott and William Byron. Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.

Kyle Larson, fresh from Saturday’s 21st-place qualifying effort for the Indianapolis 500, turned his first laps in the No. 5 Chevrolet on Sunday night. After a two-tire stop on Lap 178, he was running third when he slapped the wall on Lap 214 and finished 21st, three laps down.

• Drivers Entered: 23
• Laps Scheduled: 200
• Laps Actual: 250 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
• Margin of Victory: 0.829 Seconds
• Time of Race: 1 Hours 37 Minutes 56 Seconds
• Average Speed: 95.728
• Cautions: 5 for 32 laps
• Lead Changes: 18
• Green Flag Passes: 1,426 (6.5 passes per green flag lap)

• North Wilkesboro Speedway
• NASCAR All-Star Race
• Race Winner: Christopher Bell (T)
• Age: 30
• Team : No 20 - Mobil 1 Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs
• Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
• Christopher Bell (T) won the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway
• This is his first All-Star win in his fifth try and becomes the 27th different driver all-time to win the event
• This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in three races at North Wilkesboro Speedway
• Joe Gibbs Racing wins the All-Star Race for the third time - Christopher Bell (2025), Denny Hamlin (2015), and Kyle Busch (2017)
• 59 Green Flag Passes for the Lead ? series-most all-time in the All-Star Race (2005-2025)
• 18 Lead Changes at Start/Finish Line - series-most all-time in the All-Star Race (1985-2025)
• 1,426 Total Green Flag Passes ? second-most all-time in the All-Star Race (2005-2025), record is 1,493 (2018, Charlotte)
• 8 Different Leaders ? tied for second-most all-time in the All-Star Race (1985-2025), record is 9 (2002, Charlotte)
• Chevrolet won the first ever Manufacturer Showdown at North Wilkesboro Speedway