Brad Keselowski won the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, netting a best average speed of 77.264 mph in Friday’s qualifying session.
The No. 6 RFK Racing co-owner and driver will lead the field to the green flag for the 250-lap feature event on Sunday night (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Christopher Bell was second ahead of Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe and William Byron.
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Stealing the show was the No. 71 Spire Motorsports crew of Michael McDowell, winning the Pit Crew Challenge bonus of $100,000 with a series-best time of 12.587 seconds in Friday’s session, fastest between All-Star teams and those racing in the preliminary All-Star Open. McDowell’s crew consists of fueler Brandon Chapman, jackman Dax Hollifield III, tire carrier Luke Bussel, front changer Max Marsh and rear changer Ty Boeck.
Daniel Suárez was 20th and last in Friday’s All-Star Race qualifying, but his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing pit crew netted the best time of all All-Star crews at 12.6 seconds.
All-Star Open qualifying
Rookie Shane van Gisbergen will lead the 18-car Open field to the green flag in Sunday’s 100-lap preliminary event (5 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The three-lap average speed — including a mandatory Lap 2 pit stop — of his No. 88 Chevrolet measured at 76.112 mph, besting runner-up Carson Hocevar’s 75.942 mph.
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Noah Gragson (73.338 mph), Michael McDowell (75.326 mph) and Ryan Preece (75.261 mph) completed the top five. Erik Jones, who was fifth overall in Friday’s practice, will start 12th. Bubba Wallace, third in practice, will roll off 14th.
The top two finishers of Sunday’s All-Star Open will advance to the All-Star Race and start 21st and 22nd, respectively, in the feature. The 23rd and final spot on the All-Star Race grid is reserved for the winner of the Fan Vote, awarded to the highest vote-getter who has not otherwise qualified his way into the show.
Practice recap
All-Star racers and Open hopefuls shared the track for a combined 45-minute practice session Friday afternoon with Tyler Reddick pacing the 38-car group with a best speed of 123.640 mph.
Chase Elliott (123.403 mph), Bubba Wallace (123.376 mph), Christopher Bell (123.186 mph) and Erik Jones (123.146 mph) completed the top five. Wallace and Jones are not yet locked into Sunday’s All-Star Race but ranked fastest of the Open cars on single-car speed. Ross Chastain and Brad Keselowski, sixth and seventh respectively overall, were the next fastest cars locked into the All-Star Race.
Elliott scrubbed the wall between Turns 1 and 2 late in Friday’s session but avoided any significant damage. Joey Logano, the defending Cup Series champion and 2024 winner of the All-Star exhibition, posted the 10th-fastest lap in practice. Ryan Blaney, the 2022 All-Star Race winner, was 17th on the leaderboard ahead of Denny Hamlin in 18th.
In 10-lap averages, Reddick was fastest at 122.116 mph over Christopher Bell, Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Josh Berry, all All-Stars this weekend. The fastest Open car in 10-lap averages was Bubba Wallace in 11th at 121.328 mph.
| POSITION | CAR | DRIVER | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 18.198 | 123.64 |
| 2 | 9 | Chase Elliott | 18.233 | 123.403 |
| 3 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 18.237 | 123.376 |
| 4 | 20 | Christopher Bell | 18.265 | 123.186 |
| 5 | 43 | Erik Jones | 18.271 | 123.146 |
| 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain | 18.274 | 123.126 |
| 7 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | 18.29 | 123.018 |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | 18.294 | 122.991 |
| 9 | 8 | Kyle Busch | 18.307 | 122.904 |
| 10 | 22 | Joey Logano | 18.313 | 122.864 |
| 11 | 21 | Josh Berry | 18.32 | 122.817 |
| 12 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | 18.321 | 122.81 |
| 13 | 2 | Austin Cindric | 18.327 | 122.77 |
| 14 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | 18.349 | 122.622 |
| 15 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | 18.361 | 122.542 |
| 16 | 42 | J.H. Nemechek | 18.364 | 122.522 |
| 17 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | 18.373 | 122.462 |
| 18 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 18.39 | 122.349 |
| 19 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 18.4 | 122.283 |
| 20 | 10 | Ty Dillon | 18.416 | 122.176 |
| 21 | 7 | Justin Haley | 18.42 | 122.15 |
| 22 | 60 | Ryan Preece | 18.421 | 122.143 |
| 23 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 18.423 | 122.13 |
| 24 | 5 | Justin Allgaier | 18.434 | 122.057 |
| 25 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | 18.437 | 122.037 |
| 26 | 4 | Noah Gragson | 18.44 | 122.017 |
| 27 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | 18.441 | 122.011 |
| 28 | 88 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 18.447 | 121.971 |
| 29 | 38 | Zane Smith | 18.471 | 121.813 |
| 30 | 17 | Chris Buescher | 18.476 | 121.78 |
| 31 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | 18.487 | 121.707 |
| 32 | 48 | Alex Bowman | 18.5 | 121.622 |
| 33 | 71 | Michael McDowell | 18.512 | 121.543 |
| 34 | 51 | Harrison Burton | 18.529 | 121.431 |
| 35 | 3 | Austin Dillon | 18.549 | 121.3 |
| 36 | 41 | Cole Custer | 18.58 | 121.098 |
| 37 | 15 | Cody Ware | 18.682 | 120.437 |
| 38 | 66 | Chad Finchum | 19.212 | 117.114 |
This story will be updated.
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