NEXLIZET Ford Strong to Start Weekend before Uneventful Sunday Night Race
WILKESBORO, N.C. (May 22, 2023) – In NASCAR’s return to North Wilkesboro Speedway, Brad Keselowski and the No. 6 team showed promise in Saturday’s heat races before going on to finish 19th Sunday night in the 200-lap All-Star Race.
The return to the historic venue for the first time since 1996 brought an action-packed weekend, with a pit crew challenge on Friday, heat races Saturday night, and then Sunday night’s marquee event.
The No. 6 pit crew looked strong and turned in the second-fastest pit stop of the competition Friday, but a loose wheel penalty meant Keselowski would begin his heat race from the tail end of the field. He fired off eighth for the second heat in damp conditions that saw just one yellow flag.
After restarting ninth at lap 33, Keselowski flipped a switch and began a hard charge forward, driving to fourth by race end, which put him eighth on the grid for Sunday night’s star-studded event.
Sunday night saw just one caution flag fly outside of the scheduled break at lap 100. Keselowski was 21st at the time of that break, but the race ran caution-free from there with the No. 6 crossing the stripe 19th.
Racing returns to Charlotte this weekend as the Coca-Cola 600 is set for Sunday night. Race coverage is set for 6 p.m. ET on FOX, with radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR radio.
