g begins this weekend when he undertakes a trying commute between three racetracks in two national motorsports series.

Larson is bidding to become the fifth driver to complete the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. To accomplish the feat, Larson will miss NASCAR All-Star Race preparations Friday and Saturday at North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to focus on Indy 500 practice and qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

After attempting to qualify for the field of 33 for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Sunday at more than 230 mph in an IndyCar, Larson will hustle to the Indianapolis airport for a flight to tiny North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina, where he will race against the Cup Series’ best for $1 million in the NASCAR All-Star Race.

Larson will return to Indy for Monday practice, spend Tuesday in New York on a media tour and bounce between Indy and Charlotte Motor Speedway three times from Friday to Sunday ahead of the Coca-Cola 600.

It’s a daunting journey, but Larson is ready for the harried itinerary.

The Hendrick Motorsports star has squeezed in several dozen dirt races around his annual NASCAR schedule of 38 Cup Series weekends for the past decade.

“Yeah, I mean honestly it just feels like another week for me,” Larson said. “If anything, it’s a little easier of a week than normal.”

That’s in part because Indy 500 qualifying will end an hour later this year, so Larson will be unable to run for the pole position at North Wilkesboro, even if he were to advance to the final round of six drivers.

He already will be on the way to North Wilkesboro as a favorite, along with defending series champion Joey Logano, who led 199 of 200 laps to win last year’s NASCAR All-Star Race. Larson led 145 laps to win the 2023 All-Star Race debut at North Wilkesboro.

After the runaway wins, NASCAR has spiced up this year’s race by adding 50 laps to the distance and a random caution flag that will bunch up the field.

The format changes don’t faze Larson, who has won three of the past six All-Star Races, nor does the lack of track time. He missed practice and qualifying for last year’s All-Star Race and then drove from last to fourth on the recently repaved track.

“I think you could plug any of us in without practice, and by Lap 10 you’re going to be up to speed,” he said. “Last year was probably more of a disadvantage because I hadn’t made a single lap on that surface, but we were able to move forward right off the bat. So, hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to win like we did last year.”

Justin Allgaier will practice and qualify Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet, but the team will skip Saturday’s 75-lap heat races that set the lineup for Sunday’s main event because Larson will start from the rear for using a replacement driver Friday.

Coming off a dominant victory May 11 at Kansas Speedway, Larson leads the points standings with three wins – making him even more confident of handling his jet-setting lifestyle.

“Every year, there’s one or two weekends where it’s either late nights or cutting it close to making it to a dirt race because practice and qualifying got done later in NASCAR,” Larson said. “This week and next week feel pretty normal to me.”

But what he’s trying to do is far from normal. He crashed Friday — after wrecking last month in a test at Indy — while trying to get up to speed with the extra horsepower that he will have for Indy 500 qualifying.

“Obviously it’s tricky. I spun,” Larson said after leaving the Indy care center. “I don’t know. Kind of caught off guard a little bit there, but I think we’ll be fine. I tend to get over things pretty quickly. I know I spun but my balance felt pretty close to being good.”

Last year, his attempt at the feat known as “The Double” was scuttled because the Indy 500 was delayed four hours by rain, preventing him from racing in a rain-shortened event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It’s something that not many people have gotten the opportunity to do and it’s a challenging day of racing,” he said. “I love the challenge. I’ve looked up to a lot of the guys that have done it, and you want to add your name to the record book somehow. Hopefully, it all goes well, and we can complete ‘The Double’ and live out a dream, but also try and do a good job with it.”

Harrison Burton will be making his All-Star Race debut, even though he last raced the Cup Series in the 2024 season finale. After three years in the No. 21 Ford, Burton lost his ride with Wood Brothers Racing and dropped to the Xfinity Series.

But he was guaranteed a spot in the All-Star Race because of his victory at Daytona International Speedway last August.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — NASCAR star Kyle Larson crashed for the second time in the lead-up to the Indianapolis 500 on Friday when he lost control of his Arrow McLaren entry and hit the wall in the final practice session before this weekend’s qualifying runs.

The damage was relatively minor, though, and it only took Larson’s team about an hour to make repairs to the front and rear of the car. That allowed him to get in some precious laps with about 30 minutes left in the 6-hour session.

Larson, who also crashed on April 24 during an open test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is taking his second shot at trying to complete “the Double” by running the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Larson finished 18th in the rain-delayed 500 last year, but he never ran a lap in the NASCAR race in Charlotte when rain there ended the race early.

“Obviously it’s tricky. I spun,” Larson said after leaving the care center. “I don’t know. Kind of caught off guard a little bit there, but I think we’ll be fine. I tend to get over things pretty quickly. I know I spun but my balance felt pretty close to being good.”

Larson waited until there were about 90 minutes left in Friday’s practice, which was marked by high temperatures and gusty winds that made for treacherous conditions, before trying his first qualifying simulation. He wasn’t far into the run when his No. 17 car went skittering up the track, bumped nose-first into the wall and then spun around and hit it again.

The crash came several hours after Kyffin Simpson hit the wall hard and nearly flipped his car.

Larson’s damaged car was put on a hoist and taken to Gasoline Alley, where Arrow McLaren went to work fixing it. Along with the late laps he got Friday, the team will have an hour-long practice Saturday morning before qualifying begins at 11 a.m. EDT.

“I’m sure at this point, we’ll want to get out there and shake it down,” Larson said. “If not, you still get time to make a few runs tomorrow. The track conditions will be better and I’m sure we’ll pack a little extra downforce to be safe that first run, and get a run in. Not too worried about it.”

QUALIFYING FORMAT:

NASCAR Road Race style (group) qualifying

STARTING LINEUP PROCEDURES:

1st through 21st have been determined by qualifying

22nd and 23rd will be assigned based on the final 2024 NASCAR Canada Series Championship car owner point standings

Provisional Starting Positions 24th and 25th have been established for up to two additional starting positions which will be available to the highest ranking of the Top 30 drivers in the final 2024 NASCAR Canada Series Championship driver point standings

Provisional Starting Position 26th has been established for up to one additional starting position which will be available to any past NASCAR Canada Series Champion driver who participated as a driver in the 2024 NASCAR Canada Series

RACE PROCEDURE:

Non-Mandatory pit stops for fuel or tires will be allowed. Unless otherwise authorized by the Series Director, the changing of tires(s)/wheel(s) and the addition of fuel will not be permitted during the same pit stop. A maximum of two (2) tires per stop will be permitted.

TIRE ALLOTMENT:

The maximum tire allotment available for this event is as follows: Four (4) tires for practice, four (4) tires for qualifying and to begin the race and four (4) additional tires for use during the race for a total of twelve (12) tires. *If purchasing additional tires for the race, there is a maximum of two (2) left and two (2) right side tires allowed. All teams will be required to have one (1) set of four (4) mounted wet condition tires in their assigned pit stall.

NASCAR Truck Series starting positions for North Wilkesboro Speedway

Later today, NASCAR Truck Series drivers will take the green flag at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Trucks are currently on track for a round of practice. But, due to a brief shower earlier, practice is replacing the qualifying round and the lineup has been set by the rulebook.

View the North Wilkesboro starting lineup for the NASCAR Truck Series below.

North Wilkesboro Menu
CARS (PLM): Prac/Qual | Race
CARS (LMSC): Prac/Qual | Race
Trucks: : Prac/Qual | Race
Cup : Prac/Qual | Heat/Open Lineups | Heats/Open | All-Star Race

North Wilkesboro TV Schedule

Corey Heim will start from the pole position in today’s race.

North Wilkesboro Speedway
Starting Lineup
May 17, 2025
NASCAR Truck Series

Pos | Driver

1. Corey Heim

2. Kyle Busch

3. Sammy Smith

4. Gio Ruggiero

5. Jake Garcia

6. Stewart Friesen

7. Daniel Hemric

8. Grant Enfinger

9. Kaden Honeycutt

10. Brent Crews

11. Ben Rhodes

12. Ty Majeski

13. Tyler Ankrum

14. Chandler Smith

15. Matt Crafton

16. Matt Mills

17. Dawson Sutton

18. Rajah Caruth

19. Connor Mosack

20. Andres Perez

21. Toni Breidinger

22. Jack Wood

23. Conner Jones

24. Tanner Gray

25. Spencer Boyd

26. Derek White

27. Layne Riggs

28. Tyler Tomassi

29. Frankie Muniz

30. Luke Baldwin

31. Jayson Alexander

32. Justin Carroll

33. Patrick Emerling

34. Norm Benning

35. Ryan Roulette

North Wilkesboro Speedway
Practice Results
May 17, 2025
NASCAR Truck Series

Pos | Driver

1. Chandler Smith
18.439

2. Corey Heim
18.542

3. Layne Riggs
18.571

4. Ty Majeski
18.597

5. Kaden Honeycutt
18.606

6. Grant Enfinger
18.623

7. Brent Crews
18.670

8. Luke Baldwin
18.676

9. Stewart Friesen
18.676

10. Ben Rhodes
18.684

11. Connor Mosack
18.706

12. Dawson Sutton
18.715

13. Tyler Ankrum
18.717

14. Matt Crafton
18.724

15. Tanner Gray
18.734

16. Gio Ruggiero
18.736

17. Conner Jones
18.766

18. Jake Garcia
18.798

19. Jack Wood
18.801

20. Rajah Caruth
18.809

21. Kyle Busch
18.812

22. Sammy Smith
18.864

23. Daniel Hemric
18.874

24. Andres Perez
18.884

25. Patrick Emerling
18.970

26. Matt Mills
18.980

27. Toni Breidinger
19.224

28. Spencer Boyd
19.340

29. Tyler Tomassi
19.375

30. Ryan Roulette
19.798

31. Frankie Muniz
19.853

32. Jayson Alexander
19.905

33. Norm Benning
19.983

34. Derek White
20.000

North Wilkesboro TV Schedule

Links

North Wilkesboro Speedway | NASCAR

Today, Spire Motorsports announced NASCAR veteran B.J. McLeod will pilot the team’s No. 07 Chevrolet Silverado in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway where Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster will be showcased as the team’s primary sponsor.
 
McLeod is the co-owner of B.J. McLeod Motorsports and the driver of the No. 78 Chevrolet ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series. He brings a wealth of experience to the seat of the No. 07 machine as he returns to CRAFTSMAN Truck Series competition for the first time since 2021. The race will mark a unique opportunity for McLeod to promote his latest business venture and reconnect with the series where his NASCAR journey began in 2010.
 
“Getting to race again in the NASCAR truck series with an incredible team is an honor,” said McLeod. “It’s a perfect partnership with Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster — speed, adrenaline, and pure excitement — both on the track and in the mountains. We’re ready to put on a show for the fans and make this ride one to remember.”

A native of Wauchula, Fla., McLeod began his racing career at three-years-old, piloting ATVs before transitioning to go-karts at age five. He quickly ascended the ranks where he amassed more than 300 wins and 18 championships across regional and national competition. At age 13, McLeod made headlines by winning his first Super Late Model race at Orlando Speed World, becoming the youngest driver to compete in an American Speed Association-sanctioned event.

With more than 100 Super Late Model victories and a deep resume in stock car racing, McLeod made his CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debut in 2010.
 
Since then, he has competed in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series. In 2016, he founded B.J. McLeod Motorsports, which expanded to a three-car Xfinity Series operation, featuring a competitive lineup of drivers. From 2021 through the conclusion of the 2023 season, McLeod served as both owner and driver for Live Fast Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series before finalizing the sale of the team’s charter to Spire Motorsports.
 
Outside of his NASCAR exploits, McLeod is currently developing a new motorsports-themed attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. The Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster, set to open later this year, is the ultimate adventure for thrill seekers looking to experience an adrenaline-pumping ride like no other. This exciting mountain coaster invites guests to race their friends or family as they speed through twists and turns, all while competing for the checkered flag. While aboard the coaster, riders will get to see expansive views of Pigeon Forge from all different viewpoints.

The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 from Charlotte Motor Speedway will be televised live on FS1 Friday, May 23, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will also be broadcast live on the NASCAR Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

Spire Motorsports PR

The NASCAR Cup Series will take a break from points-paying races this weekend for the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Kyle Larson sits atop the NASCAR Cup Series standings and is coming off a win at Kansas last weekend. He is the +500 favorite (risk $100 to win $500) in the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race odds at DraftKings Sportsbook, while Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney are each +600. Joey Logano, who won both the All-Star Race and Cup Series Championship in 2024, is +800 on the NASCAR All-Star Race odds board. 

The green flag is scheduled to drop at 8 p.m. ET. Before entering any 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race props or NASCAR parlay picks on sites like PrizePicks, DraftKings Pick6, Sleeper Fantasy, and Underdog Fantasy, you need to see what elite expert auto racing handicappers Phil Bobbitt and Steve Greco have to say.

Bobbitt and Greco built a predictive engine that consistently beats the books. They find huge value and aren’t afraid of volume. Over the past four years, their followers are up more than $28,000 on $100 plays. Last season, they nailed seven outright winners in the Cup Series, returning nearly seven units for a 25.7% ROI. 

They predicted Daniel Suarez’s victory in Atlanta at +3500 and were 10-2 on matchup plays. Their 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race preview nailed Joey Logano at +1100 and went 4-0 in matchup picks, and they hit Austin Cindric at +2800 in the Enjoy Illinois 300. They also nailed Ross Chastain as a +3000 longshot in the Hollywood Casino 400. Overall, they were up 47.18 units across all racing articles last season. This season, they have correctly called William Byron (+2300) in the Daytona 500 and Kyle Larson (+450) in the AdventHealth 400. Anyone following Bobbitt and Greco on betting apps and sportsbooks could have seen huge returns.

Now, Bobbitt and Greco have analyzed the field and odds for Sunday’s NASCAR at North Wilkesboro 2025 race. They’re sharing their best bets only at SportsLine.

2025 NASCAR All-Star Race prop picks

One of Bobbitt and Greco’s top NASCAR bets: They are backing Christopher Bell to finish ahead of Kyle Larson in a head-to-head prop that pays -105 at DraftKings.

Larson is juggling multiple responsibilities this weekend, as he will be practicing and qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 to go along with the All-Star festivities. He is preparing to run the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 double next weekend for the second consecutive year. His schedule will not allow him to practice or qualify for the All-Star Race, so he will start this race from the back of the pack. 

Bell finished second behind Larson at Kansas Speedway last weekend, marking his sixth top-five finish of the season. He has finished inside the top 10 in five of his last six races, and he has already recorded three wins this year. Given Larson’s hectic schedule, Bobbitt and Greco are happy to back an in-form Bell in this head-to-head prop. 

“We’re not fading talent. We’re fading logistics. And logistics don’t care about legacies,” Bobbitt and Greco told SportsLine. See what other NASCAR prop picks they like at SportsLine.

How to make 2025 NASCAR at North Wilkesboro picks

Bobbitt and Greco have locked in more NASCAR props, including three more head-to-head matchups. They also have a bet for the NASCAR All-Star Open that pays +300. You can only see what it is here.

So who wins the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race, and which props should you target? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2025 NASCAR at North Wilkesboro prop picks and best bets from a team of elite NASCAR handicappers who were up over 47 units last year, and find out.

2025 NASCAR All-Star Race odds, drivers

See full NASCAR at North Wilkesboro picks at SportsLine

Kyle Larson +500
Denny Hamlin +600
Christopher Bell +600
Ryan Blaney +600
William Byron +800
Joey Logano +800
Chase Elliott +900
Tyler Reddick +1400
Chase Briscoe +1600
Chris Buescher +1600
Alex Bowman +1800
Ross Chastain +2000
Kyle Busch +2500
Brad Keselowski +3000
Austin Cindric +3000
Daniel Suarez +8000
Austin Dillon +10000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +15000
Harrison Burton +25000