Event: NASCAR All-Star Open | NASCAR All-Star Race (non-points races)
Time/Date: 5:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 19
Location: North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway
Layout: .625-mile oval
Laps/Miles: 100 laps/62.5 miles | 200 laps/125 miles
TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
SHR Fast Facts:
– For the first time in Josh Berry’s NASCAR Cup Series career, he is attempting to make the non-points All-Star Race as a full-time premier series competitor. The 33-year-old rookie made his series debut with a pair of races in 2021, then filled in as a substitute driver at 10 races in 2023 – eight with Hendrick Motorsports and two with Legacy Motor Club. Berry did have the opportunity to race his way into last year’s All-Start Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway via the All-Star Open that preceded it, and the short-track aficionado did just that. He qualified second in the injured Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports entry and won the 100-lap shoot-out on the .625-mile oval. As a result, Berry earned the 22nd starting spot for the 200-lap All-Star Race, from where he climbed his way to 15th by race’s end.
– Ryan Preece is headed to North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway this weekend to compete for a spot in Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race. The driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing will have to race into the main event by finishing in the top-two positions during Sunday’s undercard All-Star Open. NASCAR returned to North Wilkesboro after a 27-year hiatus for last season’s All-Star event. Preece qualified eighth and finished fourth in last year’s All-Star Open, falling just two spots short of advancing to the main event.
– For all the talk about the All-Star Race, Noah Gragson and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates are focused on the NASCAR All-Star Open. The 100-lap race is for drivers not qualified for the All-Star Race, and Gragson and his Stewart-Haas brethren fall into this group. Only drivers who have won a points race in either 2023 or 2024, drivers who have previously won the All-Star Race and still compete fulltime, and drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup Series championship and compete fulltime are eligible for the All-Star Race. Gragson is one of 20 drivers looking to race their way into the All-Star Race via the Open, but only the top-two finishers in the Open will advance to the All-Star Race. However, a third Open driver will get into the All-Star Race via a fan vote, which will remain live until 5:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday when the green flag waves for the Open.
– Chase Briscoe has been a part of two All-Star Races, and he didn’t need to run the All-Star Open to make the main event. After winning the NASCAR Cup Series rookie-of-the-year title in 2021, Briscoe won in just the fourth start of his sophomore season. On March 13, 2022 at Phoenix Raceway, Briscoe took the checkered flag in his 40th career Cup Series start. The victory secured Briscoe’s place in the NASCAR Playoffs and earned him the honor of being the 200th Cup Series winner in NASCAR history. It also gave Briscoe automatic entry into the All-Star Race in 2022 and 2023. In those two races, Briscoe finished 18th and fourth, respectively.
OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:
WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:
Josh Berry, Driver of the No. 4 Harrison’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Coming off a strong run at Darlington to a short track where you raced your way into the All-Star Race last year in the No. 48, how do you and the No. 4 team continue to build on the momentum?
“I think the biggest thing our group is focused on is just continuing our process and maximizing the things we can control. Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and the guys at the shop have built really fast Ford Mustang Dark Horses for every short track we have gone to, which gives me a ton of confidence heading to North Wilkesboro. If we just stick to our process, prepare the best we can during the week, and go have a clean day, there’s no reason we can’t advance to the All-Star Race and do really well.”
Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
North Wilkesboro has been paved since last season’s All-Star Race. How do you envision it will affect the race compared to last season?
“With North Wilkesboro’s repave and all the improvements to the racetrack, some of that takes away from the tire fall-off. However, at the same time, I had the opportunity to go there earlier this year to do a tire test, and it’s still the same North Wilkesboro that all of us love. It should be an exciting weekend from both a competition and entertainment standpoint.”
Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
When North Wilkesboro ran its last points-paying NASCAR Cup Series race in 1996, you weren’t even born. So when NASCAR returned to North Wilkesboro last year for the All-Star Race, did you have an understanding of its history, or was it just another track where you had to go out and compete?
“For me, it was probably just go out and compete. It’s another challenge and trying to figure out another track. Obviously, you hear the stories from everybody who was around at that time and they all have their story about how they saw Richard Petty go around that place, Dale Jarrett, Dale Sr., Rusty Wallace. They all have their story and how much that place means to them. I might not share that same sentimental value, but I do appreciate it the same as when we go to Martinsville. The first time you go to Martinsville, you think, ‘Man, this is grassroots!’ It’s cool. It’s different. I thought that was pretty cool about it, but to me it’s another racetrack where I have an opportunity to go out and compete and try to be the best driver that I can be.”
Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang
You competed in the past two All-Star Races, but this year you have to race your way into the main event. Did you have an appreciation for being a part of the main event, and does that make you want to get back into the All-Star Race that much more?
“For sure. The last two years, I’ve been able to just be locked into the All-Star Race and I didn’t have to do anything to get into it as far as the weekend itself. This time, it’ll kind of be like going back dirt racing where you have heat races, and if you don’t make the transfer, you’re done. You’re loading up and going to the house. It definitely makes you appreciate it a little bit more, being locked into it. I would obviously love to go there locked into it. It just makes it that much more important to go there and run good because that’s a race that you want to be a part of. The All-Star event itself, it’s nice to be able to have your name attached to that event, and obviously to be racing for a million bucks is super cool, too. So that’s definitely one you put a lot of emphasis on throughout the year, and obviously you know that when you do get a win that you’re locked into the All-Star Race, and that’s one of the perks of it.”