Following Kyle Larson's dominant display at Kansas to pick up his third win of the season, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the iconic North Wilkesboro Speedway for the running of the All-Star Race on Sunday night. This will be the third year in a row the exhibition race for $1 million will be contested at North Wilkesboro as the stars of the Cup Series take a one-week break from points-paying races before the Crown Jewel Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on Sunday, May 25.
All-Star Weekend gets underway on Friday with practice and qualifying, followed by the Pit Crew Challenge. The elapsed time from green to checkered during the three-lap qualifying session will determine the starting lineup for the All-Star heat races on Saturday and the All-Star Open on Sunday, which features the drivers that are not already locked into the All-Star Race.
In both All-Star races at North Wilkesboro prior to this season, the race winner led at least 145 of 200 laps in each one. With a new promoter's caution in play for Sunday's race, that domination may be harder to come by, given Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Marcus Smith can throw the caution up until Lap 220 of the extended 250-lap race assuming a natural caution does not occur after Lap 200.
As the Cup Series heads to North Wilkesboro and prepares for the tweaked All-Star Race format, these three drivers are in search of a rebound performance following Kansas.
Brad Keselowski, No. 6 (Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford)
Talk about a heartbreaking end to Keselowski's race at Kansas. In what has been the worst start to a season in Keselowski's career, things appeared to be heading in the right direction at Kansas. While Larson led a whopping 221 of the 267 laps, Keselowski drove his way up to second and looked to be a serious threat for the win until he blew a right rear tire on Lap 195 and finished 37th of the 38 cars.
With zero top 10s in 12 races, five DNFs and an average finish of 27.1, Keselowski sits 33rd in points. As a past champion that competes full-time, Keselowski is already qualified for Sunday's All-Star Race. While he has yet to win the event and never finished better than 16th in two starts at North Wilkesboro, Keselowski is a three-time runner-up in the event (2012, 2016, 2021). If he can finally catch a break and have a clean race, Keselowski could be a contender on Sunday.
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
After dealing with pit road issues and clutch problems at Kansas, Hamlin finally had to retire from the race on Lap 200 and finished 36th. It was his third consecutive finish outside the top 20 and his second straight DNF, marking the first time that has happened to him since 2013, per NASCAR.com.
As one of the season's seven race winners and one of only three (Larson, Christopher Bell) with multiple wins, Hamlin has been a factor more often than not. Even at Kansas, he was seventh in Stage 1 and eighth in Stage 2 despite the clutch issues that persisted. One year removed from a runner-up finish in the 2024 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, Hamlin should get back on track this weekend and contend for his second win in the exhibition race (2015).
William Byron, No. 24 (Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
Unlike Keselowski and Hamlin, who each ran toward the front before their races ended prematurely, Byron was never a factor at Kansas after a flat right rear tire on Lap 66 sent him for a half-spin entering pit road and put him behind for the entire race. While he recovered to 24th, it was the second straight finish outside the top 10 for Byron, whose seven prior top-10 finishes and consistent average finish (10.1) had him in the points lead until Larson overtook him after Kansas.
Byron runs well anywhere the series visits, so don't expect him to stay down for long. He qualified seventh at Kansas and was among the leaders until his issue late in Stage 1. However, with previous finishes of 20th (2023) and 19th (2024) at North Wilkesboro, Byron may have to wait until the 600-miler at Charlotte to get back on track.