North Wilkesboro (All-Star Race) Event Info:
Date: Sunday, May 18
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: North Wilkesboro, N.C.
Format: Heat Races Saturday: 75 laps; All-Star Race: 250 Laps Sunday
TV: FS1
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Friday: 4 p.m. ET, Cup Practice (FS2, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Friday: 6:10 p.m. ET, Cup Qualifying – Pit Crew Challenge (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 5:20 p.m. ET, Cup Heat Races Begin (FS2, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 5:30 p.m. ET, Cup Open Race (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 8 p.m. ET, Cup All-Star Race (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Pace Laps:
- The annual All-Star Race returns to the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for just the third time, as in 2022 NWB hosted NASCAR for the first time since 1996.
- The pit crew challenge again returns to the format this season, set for Friday night which will determine the starting lineups for Saturday night’s heat races.
- Each heat race Saturday spans 75 laps, with the results of Heat Race 1 setting the All-Star Race inside row, and the results of Heat Race 2 setting the All-Star Race outside row.
6 Team Info:
Driver: Brad Keselowski
Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
Partner: Solomon Plumbing
17 Team Info:
Driver: Chris Buescher
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Kroger / Tylenol
60 Team Info:
Driver: Ryan Preece
Crew Chief: Derrick Finley
Partner: Boston Common Golf
Keselowski in the All-Star Race
Starts: 16
Wins: —
Top-10s: 9
Poles: —
Keselowski makes his 17th start in the All-Star Race this weekend. He has three second-place finishes in the exhibition event, first in 2012, then in 2016 and most recently in 2021.
A season ago he won heat race two, and started on the front row for the first time in his career, despite finishing 16th.
Overall, he has nine top-10s, four inside the top five, in the All-Star event.
Buescher in the All-Star Race
Starts: 4
Wins: —
Top-10s: 2
Poles: —
Buescher makes his fifth start in the All-Star Race this weekend, and is automatically locked in via his win at Watkins Glen in 2024.
Last season at North Wilkesboro, Buescher finished third, while the season prior he won his heat race and started on the front row.
Preece in the All-Star Race
Starts: —
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —
Preece is looking for his first start in the All-Star race after competing in the Open race the past two seasons.
In his career, he has made four career starts in the Open race, with a best finish of fourth in 2023.
RFK Historically in the All-Star Race
Wins: 4 (Mark Martin, 1998, 2005; Matt Kenseth, 2004; Carl Edwards, 2011)
All-Star Victories: RFK has earned four victories in NASCAR’s All-Star Main Event with drivers Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Martin, who is a two-time All-Star race winner, first went to Victory Lane in 1998 for RFK before taking the checkered flag again in 2005. Kenseth earned the victory in the 2004 running of the event and Edwards visited the winner’s circle in 2011.
RFK Historically at North Wilkesboro
Cup Wins: 2 (Mark Martin, 1990, 1995)
Tale of the Tape: Back in the early days of racing at North Wilkesboro, Jack Roush entered 30 Cup races at the track with two wins – both from Mark Martin – with 14 overall top-10s as four drivers combined competed in Cup for Roush at the historic track.
Roush Wins One of the Last: Jack Roush shares a couple of pieces of history at the last time NASCAR competed at North Wilkesboro, as Ted Musgrave put the No. 16 on the pole for the last-ever race there in 1996. A day earlier, Martin won the Truck Series race there.
RFK All-Star Wins
1998 Martin
2004 Kenseth
2005 Martin
2011 Edwards
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Kansas: Preece: 7th, Buescher: 8th, Keselowski 37th.
Points Standings (17: 12th, 60: 16th, 6: 33rd): Preece gained a pair of positions in the standings this weekend, while Buescher and Keselowski each dropped a spot.
