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Denny Hamlin remains confident in antitrust case brought by 23XI and Front Row against NASCAR | National Sports

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Denny Hamlin said Saturday that he remains “pretty confident” in the case brought by his 23XI Racing, co-owned by the veteran driver and retired NBA great Michael Jordan, and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR alleging antitrust violations. Hamlin spoke one day after a three-judge federal appellate panel indicated it might […]

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Denny Hamlin said Saturday that he remains “pretty confident” in the case brought by his 23XI Racing, co-owned by the veteran driver and retired NBA great Michael Jordan, and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR alleging antitrust violations.

Hamlin spoke one day after a three-judge federal appellate panel indicated it might overturn an injunction that allows 23XI and Front Row to race as chartered teams, even as their lawsuit against the stock car series plays out in court.

“You know, they’re telling me kind of what’s going on. I didn’t get to hear it live or anything like that,” Hamlin said after qualifying 14th for Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway. “But we’re overall pretty confident in our case.”

The teams filed the antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR on Oct. 2 in the Western District of North Carolina, arguing that the series bullied teams into signing charter agreements — essentially franchise deals — that make it difficult to compete financially.

Those were the only two holdouts of 15 charter-holding teams that refused to sign the agreements in September.

The most recent extension of the charters lasts until 2031, matching the current media rights deal. Perhaps the biggest benefit of them is that they guarantee 36 of the 40 spots available in each NASCAR race to teams that own them.

Overturning the injunction would leave 23XI and Front Row racing as “open teams,” meaning they’d have to qualify at every Cup Series event. But there are only four open spots, and 23XI had four cars at Kansas this week — Bubba Wallace, Riley Herbst, Tyler Reddick and Corey Heim — and Front Row had three with Noah Gragson, Zane Smith and Todd Gilliland.

“You know, the judges haven’t made any kind of ruling,” Hamlin said, “so until they do, then we’re going to stay status quo.”

NASCAR attorney Chris Yates had argued the injunction, granted in December by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, forced the series into an unwanted relationship with unwilling partners, and that it harms other teams because they earn less money. He also said that the teams should not have the benefits of the charter system they are suing to overturn.

“There’s no other place to compete,” countered Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney representing 23XI and Front Row, noting overturning the injunction would cause tremendous damage to the teams, potentially including the loss of drivers and sponsors.

“It will cause havoc to overturn this injunction in the middle of the season,” Kessler said.

There is a trial date set for December, and judge Steven Agee urged the sides to meet for mediation — previously ordered by a lower court — to attempt to resolve the dispute over the injunction. But that seems unlikely.

“We’re not going to rewrite the charter,” Yates told the judges.


Associated Press writer Mike Barber in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.


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

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.



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CARS Tour puts on a better show than “horrible” ARCA

Earlier this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Josh Berry earned his first career Cup Series win, taking the iconic No. 21 Wood Brothers machine to Victory Lane. He also has five wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but it was the CARS Late Model Tour where he truly made a name for himself. Berry […]

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Earlier this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Josh Berry earned his first career Cup Series win, taking the iconic No. 21 Wood Brothers machine to Victory Lane. He also has five wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but it was the CARS Late Model Tour where he truly made a name for himself.

Berry won the 2017 CARS Late Model Stock championship, collecting 22 wins in just 56 starts (most all-time). The CARS Tour got some primetime treatment on Friday night with FOX Sports 1 broadcasting the entire Window World 100 at North Wilkesboro live, which immediately followed qualifying for the NASCAR All-Star Race.

It’s a rare treat for the CARS Tour, and Berry hopes we get to see more of that in the future.

“It’s obviously really cool to get them on FS1,” said Berry during a media availability at the track. “The biggest thing, to me, is just the racing is good. Hopefully, tonight puts on a good show, but they go to tons of different tracks around here that put on really good racing, so the biggest thing is I just hope it draws a good audience and gets people excited about it to where they can do it more often.”

The race got off to an awkward start with about 15 cars involved in a Lap 2 pileup, but it found its rhythm soon after that with Landen Lewis capturing the win.

Berry critical of ARCA

Race winner William Sawalich

Race winner William Sawalich

Photo by: NASCAR Media

“I’ll be honest,” continued Berry. “I watch ARCA races and they’re horrible. CARS Tour puts a way better product on to be on TV and they deserve a spot like that. I think hopefully tonight they do that. Hopefully, they don’t get too crazy – everybody getting wild on television. Hopefully, we can get the races started and stay on time, but I’m excited to see how it does. I think it’s a great product. The series is obviously really competitive. It’s more competitive than ever and way more competitive than even when I was a part of it, so it’s a lot of positives for that deal. Hopefully, they knock it out of the ball park.”

The CARS Tour race featured 36 cars, with 15 finishing on the lead lap. Objectively speaking, it’s fair to say that the tour does put together far stronger fields than ARCA on most weeks. 26 cars started the most recent event at Kansas, but many of those were terribly off the pace and parked their cars within the first 30 laps. Only ten drivers have started each of the first four races of the year. In 2024, just eight drivers ended up running the full season. 

Even still, Berry’s comments irked some people the wrong way with some criticizing him for tearing one series down while trying to lift another up. He does have some first-hand experience in ARCA as well, albeit limited, running two races in 2018 and 2022.

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Justin Allgaier provides Kyle Larson’s team with key feedback for NASCAR All-Star Race

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Justin Allgaier accomplished his main goal in driving Kyle Larson’s car in practice and qualifying Friday at North Wilkesboro. He didn’t put a scratch on the car. His other goal was to help the team prepare the car for Larson to drive in Sunday’s All-Star Race. “I felt like long-run pace, […]

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NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Justin Allgaier accomplished his main goal in driving Kyle Larson’s car in practice and qualifying Friday at North Wilkesboro.

He didn’t put a scratch on the car.

His other goal was to help the team prepare the car for Larson to drive in Sunday’s All-Star Race.

“I felt like long-run pace, we were really good,” Allgaier, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, told NBC Sports. “When I look at lap 30 or 40 (on a run), our pace was right where we needed it to be.”

IndyCar: Miller Lite Carb Day

Several challenges, including a new NASCAR rule, make the feat of running in those signature races in the same day much more difficult.

Allgaier drove Friday for Larson, who was in Indianapolis as he prepared to drive in both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day later this month. Larson was uninjured in a crash in practice Friday. Larson qualified 21st on Saturday for the Indianapolis 500.

Larson will not be at North Wilkesboro on Saturday. He will be in Indianapolis to qualify his car for the Indy 500. Hendrick Motorsports stated this week that Larson’s team would not take place in Saturday night’s heat race at North Wilkesboro. There was no need for the team to run because Larson will start at the rear of the All-Star Race due to the driver change.

NASCAR Cup Series All-Star - Qualifying/All-Star Pit Crew Challenge (All-Star)

Michael McDowell’s pit crew wins $100,000 bonus for the fastest four-tire stop.

So how does another driver prepare a car for Larson, the Cup points leader? Drive the car like one does and let the team adjust for Larson’s characteristics? Try to drive the car as Larson normally does?

“I think you’ve got to find the limit, find the limit of the tire and let them know where the limits are of the tire and then let them make adjustments that they feel would fit Kyle’s driving style or not,” said Allgaier, who drove Larson’s car in last year’s Coca-Cola 600 when Larson was delayed by rain in the Indy 500. “I think Kyle notoriously doesn’t complain about a loose race car nearly as much as probably most others do.

NASCAR: NASCAR All-Star Race

After dominant performances the past two years, the exhibition event will have a new format and length.

“… I think, for me, we exposed some areas in practice. I don’t know if I’d call them weaknesses but things we made adjustments and it made a significant change in balance. That gives them ammunition to be able to go when the race starts of understanding when we change this, make this adjustment, it’s going to change in the car.

“Kyle adapts so well to whatever is thrown at him. I would say that they’re going to want to free (the car) up a little bit for Kyle, especially managing traffic.”

Larson will start at the rear of the 23-car field since he missed qualifying. He also missed qualifying last year (Kevin Harvick drove the car) to be at Indianapolis and started at the rear of the All-Star field. Larson finished fourth in last year’s All-Star Race. He is a three-time winner of the event, including a victory at North Wilkesboro in 2023.





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NASCAR Results Today: Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell on top again as All-Star Race starting lineup set

The results are in from the two NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race Heats, with Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell coming out on top. After setting the fastest time in qualifying on Friday night, Keselowski was guaranteed to start out front in Sunday’s All-Star Race, but that didn’t stop him from putting up a strong defence […]

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The results are in from the two NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race Heats, with Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell coming out on top.

After setting the fastest time in qualifying on Friday night, Keselowski was guaranteed to start out front in Sunday’s All-Star Race, but that didn’t stop him from putting up a strong defence at times during the 75 racing laps in Heat 1, holding off the likes of Ross Chastain and William Byron at different times to take the heat win.

In fact, of the 75 laps, Keselowski led for all but three of them. As a result, the 2012 Cup Series champion will surely be feeling confident heading into Sunday’s main event as he chases his first All-Star Race victory.

In Heat 2, it was Bell who came out on top, with the Joe Gibbs Racing star edging the likes of Joey Logano in the No. 22 and Chase Elliott in the No. 9 to take the heat race victory.

As a result of the above, Bell will now start Sunday’s All-Star Race alongside Keselowski on the front row.

With that said, let’s take a look at the results from both heats, as well as the confirmed starting lineup, so far, for the All-Star Race itself.

READ MORE: NASCAR Race Today: All-Star Heats start times, schedule and how to watch live on TV

NASCAR Cup Series results: Who won the All-Star Race Heats?

All-Star Race Heat 1 Results















Position Driver Car No. Team Gap (Secs)
1 Brad Keselowski 6 RFK Racing Ford LEADER
2 Ross Chastain 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet +0.497
3 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet +0.556
4 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske Ford +1.007
5 Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet +1.616
6 Josh Berry 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford +4.436
7 Tyler Reddick 45 23XI Racing Toyota +6.173
8 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet +6.747
9 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet +7.110
10 Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet DNS

NOTE: With Kyle Larson taking part in Indy 500 qualifying today, neither he nor the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet ran in the heat race.

READ MORE: NASCAR legend Kyle Busch makes family announcement as new deal revealed

All-Star Race Heat 2 Results





Position Driver Car No. Team Gap (Secs)
1 Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota LEADER
2 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske Ford 2.085
3 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2.569
4 Kyle Busch 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4.210
5 Chris Buescher 17 RFK Racing Ford 5.216
6 Daniel Suarez 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 6.132
7 Chase Briscoe 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 7.196
8 Austin Cindric 2 Team Penske Ford 7.329
9 Harrison Burton 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford 10.842
10 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13.551

READ MORE: Hendrick Motorsports announce Kyle Larson absence update ahead of All-Star Race

NASCAR Cup Series: All-Star Race starting lineup

After the above Heats, here is the confirmed lineup so far for the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race.





Position Driver Car No. Team & Manufacturer
1 Brad Keselowski 6 RFK Racing Ford
2 Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
3 Ross Chastain 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
4 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske Ford
5 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
7 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske Ford
8 Kyle Busch 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
9 Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 Chris Buescher 17 RFK Racing Ford
11 Josh Berry 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
12 Daniel Suarez 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
13 Tyler Reddick 45 23XI Racing Toyota
14 Chase Briscoe 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
15 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
16 Austin Cindric 2 Team Penske Ford
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet
18 Harrison Burton 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
19 Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
20 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 All-Star Open Winner TBC TBC
22 All-Star Open Runner Up TBC TBC
23 All-Star Fan Vote Winner TBC TBC

READ MORE: NASCAR announce major Cup Series penalty after Kansas

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Keselowski, Bell Take Wins in NASCAR All-Star Qualifying Heat Races

The starting lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race, aside from the identities of the three drivers who will transfer into the race through the NASCAR All-Star Open, has been set following a pair of Heat Races, which featured vastly different levels of action, at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday afternoon. STARTING LINEUP: NASCAR All-Star Race […]

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The starting lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race, aside from the identities of the three drivers who will transfer into the race through the NASCAR All-Star Open, has been set following a pair of Heat Races, which featured vastly different levels of action, at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday afternoon.

STARTING LINEUP: NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro

In Heat Race 1, Brad Keselowski was able to back up his performance in Friday’s NASCAR All-Star Qualifying Session, which netted the driver of the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race.

Keselowski started from the pole in Saturday’s race and dominated the event by leading 72 laps to take the win in the 75-lap Heat Race, but it wasn’t a breeze by any means. Keselowski found himself in a ton of battles for the top spot, but he utilized the momentum in the high line to keep the race lead and to ultimately take the race win.

“It’s definitely not a single groove race track,” Keselowski said of North Wilkesboro Speedway, which was repaved heading into last year’s All-Star Race weekend. “They were running me real hard, and had good pace. It was a little bit of a dog fight. So, I thought it was great racing.”

Under the competition caution near the mid-way point of the race, Keselowski and crew chief Jeremy Bullins opted to remain on the track, while the majority of the nine-car field hit pit road for fresh tires. When the race went back green, Keselowski had to fight tooth and nail to hang onto the race lead.

It wasn’t easy, but it was sure fun to watch as Keselowski held off challenge after challenge from Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, and William Byron.

“That’s what this is supposed to be, right? It’s supposed to be a fun race, and I think I ran beside [Tyler Reddick], [Ross Chastain], and [William Byron] for at least a dozen or maybe two-dozen laps,” Keselowski said. “It was a good battle. Glad that we came out on top. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

Chastain would take home the runner-up spot in Heat Race 1 as he crossed the finish line narrowly ahead of William Byron in a side-by-side race to the finish. Chastain started at the rear of the field, but was able to work his way through the field, and he became the biggest thorn in everybody’s side in the closing laps of the race.

Chastain will start Sunday’s All-Star Race from the third position, while Byron will start from fifth in the $1-million winner-take-all exhibition event.

Reddick, Austin Dillon, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were the three other drivers in addition to Keselowski, who chose not to pit at the competition caution in Heat Race 1. The decision didn’t work out for any of them.

Reddick would finish seventh, Dillon was eighth, and Stenhouse was tail-end of the field in ninth.

Fin

Car

Driver

Team

Status

1

6

Brad Keselowski

RFK Racing

Running

2

1

Ross Chastain

Trackhouse Racing

Running

3

24

William Byron

Hendrick Motorsports

Running

4

12

Ryan Blaney

Team Penske

Running

5

48

Alex Bowman

Hendrick Motorsports

Running

6

21

Josh Berry

Wood Brothers Racing

Running

7

45

Tyler Reddick

23XI Racing

Running

8

3

Austin Dillon

Richard Childress Racing

Running

9

47

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

HYAK Motorsports

Running

10

5

Kyle Larson

Hendrick Motorsports

Did Not Start

Christopher Bell took the win in NASCAR All-Star Heat Race 2 on Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

John K Harrelson | LAT Images for Toyota GAZOO Racing

Christopher Bell, like Keselowski, dominated Heat Race 2 from the pole position and took a win to secure the second-place starting spot for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race.

Bell is excited at the prospect of beginning Sunday’s $1 million race with great track position, but he knows strategy and things of that nature will likely jumble the running order all race long in the NASCAR All-Star Race.

“Yeah, it seems like [track position] is really important. We have a really, really good Mobil 1 Camry, and it’s about as good as I could ask for right now. It’s handling really well, and seems like it’s really fast,” Bell said. “Got the track position to start. There’s going to be a lot of flipping track position throughout the course of the day tomorrow, and I would be really surprised if someone is able to just stay up front and lead the race.”

The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 69 of 75 laps in Heat Race 2, but took a bit of a different path to the win than the driver of the No. 6 Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

Under the competition caution at Lap 30, Bell hit pit road and took right side tires, which won him the race off of pit road, but he would actually lose the lead of the race with the call.

Chase Briscoe and his crew chief James Small were the lone driver/crew chief combo that opted to go with the Brad Keselowski strategy from Heat Race 1, and remained on the track as the rest of the nine cars in the field came to pit road.

As a result, Briscoe inherited the lead, but the call didn’t pan out for Briscoe like it did for Keselowski, who won Heat Race 1.

Briscoe immediately lost the race lead to Bell on the restart, and on Lap 42, Briscoe was sent spinning after contact deep in the field as everyone was trying to get around Briscoe’s ultra-slow No. 19 Toyota.

Ultimately, Briscoe would go on to record a seventh-place finish in Heat Race 2.

As Briscoe was busy recovering from his spin, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Bell put his foot down on the floorboard, and pulled away from the competition as he won over Joey Logano by a margin of victory of 2.085 seconds.

After seeing one driver capture a Heat Race win on old tires, and another driver capturing a win with two fresh tires, it begs the question of whether pit road strategy will heavily factor into Sunday’s All-Star Race win.

Bell, who won Heat Race 2, thinks if someone is going to stay on track with old tires on Sunday, it will be critical to not relinquish the lead.

“Last year, I know it was a little bit different tire, but Joey [Logano] won the race by staying out. Blaney ran second by staying out. Larson maybe was third by pitting. And I was on the same strategy with Joey, and ended up finishing last,” Bell recalled. “So, it seems like if you stay out, you really, really need to keep the lead. And it seems like we saw the first thing in Heat Race 1.”

We’ll see how much of a difference tires play in Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race, but in Saturday’s Heat Races they seemed to truly matter for everyone other than Brad Keselowski, who was able to hang onto the lead on his older tires.

Finishing behind the top-two in Heat Race 2 were Chase Elliott in third, and Kyle Busch, who would end the race in fourth.

Fin

Car

Driver

Team

Status

1

20

Christopher Bell

Joe Gibbs Racing

Running

2

22

Joey Logano

Team Penske

Running

3

9

Chase Elliott

Hendrick Motorsports

Running

4

8

Kyle Busch

Richard Childress Racing

Running

5

17

Chris Buescher

RFK Racing

Running

6

99

Daniel Suarez

Trackhouse Racing

Running

7

19

Chase Briscoe

Joe Gibbs Racing

Running

8

2

Austin Cindric

Team Penske

Running

9

51

Harrison Burton

Rick Ware Racing

Running

10

11

Denny Hamlin

Joe Gibbs Racing

Running

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Promoter’s Caution could add random layer of chaos in NASCAR All-Star Race

The fate of the NASCAR All-Star Race largely rests on the whims of Marcus Smith, who is giving few hints about how he’ll deploy a new “Promoter’s Caution.” It’s the latest goofy gimmick in an event defined by annual format changes designed to goose the competition in the name of fender-banging fireworks. At a randomly […]

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The fate of the NASCAR All-Star Race largely rests on the whims of Marcus Smith, who is giving few hints about how he’ll deploy a new “Promoter’s Caution.”

It’s the latest goofy gimmick in an event defined by annual format changes designed to goose the competition in the name of fender-banging fireworks. At a randomly selected point Sunday night during the first 220 of 250 laps at North Wilkesboro Speedway, a yellow flag will fly and possibly wipe out a big lead while bunching the field for a race-altering restart.

The decision on when to throw the yellow rests solely with Smith, the president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, which owns the 0.625-mile track in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

“I’ll have a very special mystery guest with a little All-Star Race history of his own to help me out when it’s time to drop the yellow,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we’ll create a little chaos for the teams and some fun for the fans at the same time.”

It’s an attempt to restore some luster to the All-Star Race, which has lost touch with its no-holds-barred origins. The past two events at North Wilkesboro produced runaway victories for Kyle Larson and Joey Logano, who led 199 of 200 laps in 2024.

The most memorable event last year came after the race when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch engaged in fisticuffs after tangling for a mid-pack position. It was a far cry from the furious last-lap battles that once sent an All-Star Race winner to the emergency room (Davey Allison sustained a concussion in 1992 after crashing from contact with Kyle Petty at the checkered flag).

The Promoter’s Caution won’t guarantee a slam-bang ending, but it’s in the vein of an exhibition race with $1 million but no points at stake. While other pro sports have struggled to keep all-star events relevant, Cup Series drivers pride themselves on competing as hard as they would in a race with championship implications — and sometimes harder.

“The All Star Race is not just another race,” Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell said. “Everybody is more aggressive than a normal Sunday Cup race. Everyone has that win it or wear it attitude, and it races differently because of that.”

A sense of resignation from the All-Star Race’s annual format overhauls also makes it easier to accept the inanity of a random yellow.

“I have a hard enough time keeping up with all of the different format stuff,” Team Penske’s Austin Cindric said. “It doesn’t really bother me that much that we’re going to have a Promoter’s Caution because, unless I’m the caution, I can’t control it in any way. It’s just the racing gods, but maybe they’re on earth this time.”

Though its timing could cost him a win, Logano is fine with the Promoter’s Caution because “the All-Star Race presents the opportunity to try things outside of the box.

“I don’t think we should have a Promoter’s Caution in points-paying events,” he said. “But in this case, we do something different. It’s something everyone can talk about. And I just don’t know what they’re going to do. Are they going to put Marcus in the flag stand, and he’s just going to throw a yellow flag?”

The son of late NASCAR Hall of Famer Bruton Smith, who once lobbied for random yellows as the most bombastic promoter in Cup history, is coy about how the Promoter’s Caution will be unveiled.

“I’ve had no shortage of NASCAR experts from inside and outside of the garage giving me advice on what to do,” Marcus Smith said. “I’ve got a couple of scenarios in mind depending on what’s happening with the race. Or I could just go spur of the moment with my gut.”

Christopher Bell (+350) is the BetMGM Sportsbook favorite, followed by pole-sitter Brad Keselowski (+600), Logano (+650), two-time defending Daytona 500 winner William Byron (+700) and Denny Hamlin (+800). Kyle Larson, who will start last after missing practice and qualifying while attempting to make the Indy 500, is listed at +1000. … Keselowski and Bell were the winners Saturday of the two 75-lap heat races that set the starting lineup for the All-Star Race. Keselowski already was guaranteed the top starting spot for Sunday night’s main event after qualifying on the pole position Friday. Bell will start second Sunday, followed by Ross Chastain, Logano and Byron. … After sitting essentially dormant for more than 35 years, North Wilkesboro Speedway is playing host to its third consecutive All-Star Race since a $20 million makeover. Keselowski wants to move a points race from Charlotte Motor Speedway’s “Roval” layout to North Wilkesboro Speedway and shift the All-Star Race back to Charlotte’s 1.5-mile oval (the host from 1987-2019). “This needs to be a points racetrack,” Keselowski said of North Wilkesboro. “I’m very strong about the Roval has got to go.”

___

AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

___

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



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Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to ‘big night’ for CARS Tour at North Wilkesboro Speedway

Tonight was a big one for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his CARS Tour Late Model Stock series. A fantastic night of racing at North Wilkesboro. Landen Lewis gets the win, and while JR Motorsports didn’t do great, Earnhardt seems pleased with the overall product. CARS Tour co-owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick both had […]

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Tonight was a big one for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his CARS Tour Late Model Stock series. A fantastic night of racing at North Wilkesboro. Landen Lewis gets the win, and while JR Motorsports didn’t do great, Earnhardt seems pleased with the overall product.

CARS Tour co-owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick both had drivers in this race tonight. Both were also calling the race from the FOX Sports broadcast booth along with FloRacing’s Eric Brennan.

Changed out of his suit and into his street clothes, Dale Jr. put out a message for fans. He is beyond thankful for all of the support for his short track series.

“Hey everybody. Just getting wrapped up here after the CARS Tour race at North Wilkesboro and reading some of the feedback on social media,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in a selfie video on social media. “I hope that you, if you watched the race I hope you enjoyed it. It was a big, big night for the CARS Tour. We’re very proud and it’s something we’re very, very passionate about. Just an incredible night.

“So, hope everybody enjoyed the broadcast. I had a lot of fun being part of it. But I think the world of this series and its drivers and teams, and I asked everybody to support it this weekend, and if you did, I just wanted to jump on here real quick and say, big thanks, from all of us.”

The race was a little sloppy at first. That is possibly due to the Cup Series tire rubber that was laid down on the track in practice and qualifying. A few CARS Tour drivers and the broadcast booth noted as much. Once the Hoosier Tires started to put rubber down, it was smooth sailing. Well, mostly.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is passionate about stock car racing. That passion is taking the CARS Tour to new heights every year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. back in the broadcast booth

For NASCAR fans who have missed hearing Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his excited voice in the booth, tonight was a nice amuse-bouche. A little appetizer for what we are going to get this summer, starting next week at Charlotte.

The Coca-Cola 600 will be Dale Jr.’s debut on Prime Video. He will be in the broadcast booth with Adam Alexander and Steve Letarte. This is going to be a fun 10-race schedule from Prime Video to TNT Sports.

CARS Tour has now raced on FS1 for the first time. When can we get more of that? Motorsports in general are continuing to grow in the 2020s. There is a lot of interest in motorsports again, and the CARS Tour is a perfect late-night series to have on TV. If the right partner comes along.

For now, FloRacing has the rights to CARS Tour races. FloRacing was working together with FOX Sports on tonight’s broadcast and have continued to grow their partnership with the TV network. Would you watch the CARS Tour regularly on FS1 or FS2?



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