Kyle Larson’s barnstorming 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.”

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.

What Larson is 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.”

Qualifying, Pit Crew Challenge results

Brad Keselowski rebounded from a dismal season to win his first All-Star Race pole position. The No. 6 Ford driver beat Christopher Bell by nearly a second to earn the top starting spot in Sunday’s main event and in the first of two 75-lap heat races Saturday that will determine the rest of the All-Star Race starting lineup.

“It’s pretty freaking cool, man,” said Keselowski, the 2012 Cup Series champion who is ranked 33rd in the points standings with a best finish of 11th this year. “It’s one of the things I’ve never done in my career. And to do it by so much. But a total team effort.”

The driver-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing has three runner-up finishes in the All-Star Race, tying him with Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader for the most seconds without a win in the event.

Michael McDowell’s team won the Pit Crew Challenge and a $100,00 bonus with a four-tire stop in 12.587 seconds.

Shane van Gisbergen captured the pole position for the All-Star Open, a 100-lap warmup race Sunday. Carson Hocevar qualified second. The top two finishers in the All-Star Open, plus the winner of an online fan vote, will transfer into the 250-lap main event.

Fresh start

Harrison Burton will be making his All-Star Race debut Sunday, 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, so Rick Ware Racing hired Burton to drive its No. 51 Ford at North Wilkesboro in a one-off deal.

“You kind of never know if an opportunity will come and having an automatic bid into the All-Star Race is such a big deal to me,” Burton said. “Especially how my story has gone with the ups and downs. This is such a cool moment for me. I really wanted to make this deal work out, and I’m really happy it did.”

Title barometer

The All-Star Race winner has gone on to win the Cup championship in three of the past five years (Chase Elliott in 2020, Larson in ’21, Logano last year), which adds another layer to the race’s prestige. The select field will feature 23 drivers.

“Just being a part of the race against some of the biggest names in the series is big and important,” said Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, who missed last year’s main event. “It’s not a points race but there’s a lot of cash on the line and definitely a cool title to go with it.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

What’s Happening?

Garrett Mitchell, better known by his persona Cleetus McFarland, will race in his third ARCA Menards Series race on Friday, May 23, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Per a post on his Facebook account, Mitchell will once again race for Rette Jones Racing in the No. 30 Ford Mustang.

This will be Mitchell’s third ARCA race of the season. So far, the 30-year-old has entered races at Daytona and Talladega. This will be his first start on an Intermediate, or 1.5-mile oval; he also has a scheduled short track start on Sept. 11 in the ARCA Menards Series East finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In his ARCA Menards Series debut, he crashed early and finished 30th. However, he recovered from an early mechanical issue at Talladega to finish 10th. His races in ARCA have drawn massive amounts of attention to ARCA, NASCAR, and Mitchell, with some dubbing it the “Cleetus McFarland Effect.”

The green flag for the ARCA Menards Series’ General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway will drop at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, May 23, and will air live on FS1.

Cleetus Takes on NASCAR

With over 4.34 million subscribers on YouTube, Mitchell, who goes by the screen name Cleetus McFarland, found his way into NASCAR via his relationship with former NASCAR champion Greg Biffle. Biffle helped Mitchell, who has a history of racing in oddball events at his short track, the 3/8-mile “Freedom Factory” in Bradenton, Florida.

Mitchell’s work in ARCA is all aimed at the goal of racing in the Daytona 500 in 2027. However, he has recently claimed that his adding more ARCA races to his schedule, along with considering doing some Xfinity Series racing, has come with him realizing how hard it is to master racing a stock car.

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Alex Guénette is thrilled to announce his return to the NASCAR Canada Series for the 2025 season, this time with the newly formed JASS Racing team. Despite being a new entry, JASS Racing brings a wealth of NASCAR Canada experience to the table, led by crew chief Jonathan Côté.

The team is backed by an impressive roster of sponsors, including GL Électricité Automatisation, BetGRW, DLGL, and the Casinos Grand Royal Wôlinak, all proudly supporting Guénette’s campaign throughout his selected events.

“I’m really happy to be back for a partial season with this new team,” said Guénette. “I think we’re going to surprise people. My goal is to achieve as much success as possible, just like last year when we scored three podiums in six races. With the support of JASS Racing and Jonathan as crew chief, we have everything we need to be competitive right from the start.”

The team has confirmed participation in seven races for the 2025 season, beginning with the season opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on May 18. JASS Racing will return to the track on May 31 at Autodrome Chaudière, followed by the inaugural race at Calabogie Motorsports Park on July 27. Guénette will also compete in the prestigious Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières on August 10, where he’ll aim for a second victory at the historic event. He will then head to ICAR on August 23 to race in front of family, friends, and sponsors, as it is his home track. Guénette will conclude his season with races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on August 31 and Autodrome Montmagny on September 21.

Jonathan Côté added, “We’re thrilled to have Alex behind the wheel this season. His proven track record and dedication to excellence perfectly align with the values of JASS Racing. We worked hard throughout the winter to prepare competitive cars for each event.”

Fans can follow Alex Guénette’s progress on his personal social media channels and through the team’s official platforms for exclusive content, updates, and special announcements.

JASS Racing PR

For the third time this season, Max Stambaugh went wire-to-wire with the Great Lakes Super Sprints Presented by PERFIT & ARP, and for the second time this year he was crowned a winner with the Ohio CAT Division at Limaland Motorsports Park.

Stambaugh, who was originally set to roll off third for the 2025 Run for the Rabbit Memorial event, was able to slide to the front row after a penalty was handed out to the original pole. Stambaugh led the field to green alongside two-time Run for the Rabbit and GLSS Champion, Jared Horstman. The only two drivers to win so far this season were the class of the field once again.

With heavy storms breathing down the neck of fans and drivers, Stambaugh quickly reached lapped traffic with well over a straightaway lead on Horstman, who was forced to deal with a pesky Devon Dobie and Chase Dunham early for the second spot. Once Horstman shook Dunham and Dobie he was able to chase down Stambaugh in lapped traffic.

With five laps to go, no cars separated the pair at the front. Horstman was able to draw within two car lengths of Stambaugh in the final two laps, but couldn’t get close enough to make a move on Stambaugh. The Smith Motorsports No.71H went on to collect the win over Hortstman Dunham, Dobie, and Dustin Daggett. 

The win, Stambaugh’s third of the season, is the 21st of his career and keeps him third on the all-time GLSS wins list. Stambaugh now takes a 55-point advantage in the Ohio CAT Division Championship lead, and a slim two-point advantage over Horstman for the GLSS Tour Championship lead. 

Chase Dunham earned the Ti22 Performance Fast Qualifier Award.

Chase Dunham won Engler Machine & Tool Heat Race Number 1.

Max Stambaugh won Howard-Johnson of Lima Heat Race Number 2.

Kobe Allison won Miami Paint Heat Race Number 3.

Luke Griffith was the Operating Engineers 324 Hard Charger advancing eight positions from 15th to 7th.

The next event for the Great Lakes Super Sprints is back at Limaland Motorsports Park on Friday, May 23rd, before heading to Millstream Speedway on Saturday, May 24th, and Waynesfield Raceway Park on Sunday, May 25th. For more information, log onto GreatLakesSprints.com. Find the Great Lakes Super Sprints on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and YouTube.

Ohio CAT A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 71H-Max Stambaugh[3]; 2. 17-Jared Horstman[2]; 3. 66-Chase Dunham[5]; 4. 23-Devon Dobie[4]; 5. 85-Dustin Daggett[7]; 6. 5M-Steve Irwin[13]; 7. 11G-Luke Griffith[15]; 8. 13-Van Gurley Jr[9]; 9. 49T-Gregg Dalman[16]; 10. X-Mike Keegan[14]; 11. 11H-Caleb Harmon[8]; 12. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[11]; 13. 24-Kobe Allison[6]; 14. 7C-Phil Gressman[1]; 15. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[12]; 16. 31-Jac Nickles[10]; 17. 83-Adam Cruea[17]; 18. 18-Brian Razum[21]; 19. 21S-Benji Siferd[20]; 20. 37-Noah Dunlap[18]; 21. 33-Jeremy Ferguson[19]

GLSS PR

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.”