Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Spire Motorsports crew earned the $100,000 grand prize in Friday evening’s NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Pit Crew Challenge at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Crew members Brandon Chapman (fueler), Dax Hollifield III (jackman), Luke Bussel (tire carrier), Max Marsh (front changer) and Ty Boeck (rear changer) all contributed to the winning stop at 12.587 seconds.

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The No. 71 crew bested Trackhouse Racing’s No. 99 crew (12.600 seconds) and the No. 4 crew (12.669 seconds) from Front Row Motorsports to claim the prize.

RELATED: Live lineup tracker | At-track photos: North Wilkesboro

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Nos. 19 (12.695 seconds) and 20 (12.709 seconds) crews rounded out the top five. Christopher Bell’s No. 20 crew entered the day as the two-time defending champions of the Pit Crew Challenge.

On-track action for the Cup Series resumes Saturday evening at 5:10 p.m. ET for the All-Star Heat Races (FS2, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

This story will be updated.

Van Gisbergen was fastest among All-Star Open competitors in the three-lap qualifying session featuring a four-tire pit stop. The Rookie of the Year contender clocked in with a time of 1 minute, 28.685 seconds.

The top two finishers in Sunday’s All-Star Open will join the field for the All-Star Race following the Open. The Fan Vote Winner will also join the lineup for Sunday night’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

-Photo credit: Jim Fluharty, HHP for Chevy Racing

Qualifying on All-Star Race weekend is unique within NASCAR. Drivers will complete a full lap at speed before diving onto pit road for a four-tire pit stop in the middle of the second lap. At the end of that lap, the entire time it took from start to finish of the run is each driver’s qualifying time — and yes, there are penalties for things such as loose wheels and speeding in the pit lane.

The first drivers on track were the 18 selected for the All-Star Open, which is the race to make the main event. The top-two finishers will advance into the All-Star Race with a third joining them as the Fan Vote recipient.

Well, one of the drivers currently ranked in the top five for the Fan Vote — Shane van Gisbergen — went out and put his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet on pole position. SVG appeared to gain most of his time while braking into the pit lane, but having a fast pit crew helped as well.

“Yeah, I think we finally got all the things right,” said van Gisbergen, who had never even seen this track before today. “Qualifying has been a weakness. My lap was pretty good, coming in was good, pit stop guys were insane so really good for them. Thanks to WeatherTech, thanks to the Trackhouse pit crew, and we’re up front for tomorrow.

“I’ve never started at the front for an oval so I don’t know what to do there. I have to learn the rules and see how we go.”

In the Cup Series, the New Zealander’s best start on an oval is 17th, which came at Talladega Superspeedway last year. He will be joined on the front row by Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar, who is also one of the top five drivers in the Fan Vote right now.

Noah Gragson qualified third, Michael McDowell fourth, and Ryan Preece fifth. Zane Smith, Justin Haley, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, and Ty Dillon filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Later on, Brad Keselowski earned pole position for the All-Star Race while McDowell’s pit crew won the Pit Crew Challenge. 

Photos from All-Star Race – Practice

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – Qualifying for the NASCAR All-Star Race was held on Friday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway and the session looked different than any other in the sport all year. 

It also gave the sport’s pit crews their time to shine. 

The Pit Crew Challenge was held amidst Friday’s qualifying session, with drivers logging three laps with a green-flag pit stop in the middle. The total time determined the lineup for a pair of heat races on Saturday. 

Alex Bowman and the No. 48 team led Hendrick Motorsports with a third-place qualifying run. The crew was sixth in the Pit Crew Challenge. 

William Byron was next with a fifth-place qualifying effort. Chase Elliott came home 10th and Justin Allgaier qualified the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet in 15th. Kyle Larson, who was busy with priorities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in pursuit of the #H1100, will start in the back in Sunday’s main event. 

The first heat race start at 5:10 p.m. on Saturday and the second is tentatively scheduled for 6:15. The results of the two heats will set the field for Sunday’s All-Star Race, which will start at 8 p.m. and air on FS1. 

RELATED:Take our North Wilkesboro trivia quiz, win a pair of autographs!

Prior to that, the All-Star Open will be held, filled with drivers who have not already qualified for the main event. The top two finishers will advance and the final spot in the field will be determined by fan vote. 

Here’s a look at the results from Friday night:

NASCAR All-Star Race qualifying results

1. Brad Keselowski, No. 6, 1:27.362
2. Christopher Bell, No. 20, 1:28.253
3. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 1:28.361
4. Chase Briscoe, No. 19, 1:28.649
5. William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet, 1:29.12
6. Joey Logano, No. 22, 1:29.257
7. Austin Dillon, No. 3, 1:29.619
8. Denny Hamlin, No. 11, 1:29.922
9. Tyler Reddick, No. 45, 1:30.171
10. Chase Elliott, Prime Video Chevrolet, 1:30.451
11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47, 1:30.974
12. Kyle Busch, No. 8, 1:31.224
13. Josh Berry, No. 21, 1:31.241
14. Harrison Burton, No. 51, 1:34.433
15. Justin Allgaier, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 1:34.95
16. Chris Buescher, No. 17, 1:38.272
17. Ross Chastain, No. 1, 1:38.886
18. Austin Cindric, No. 2, 1:39.057
19. Ryan Blaney, No. 12, 1:40.338
20. Daniel Suarez, No. 99, 1:46.931

NASCAR All-Star Open qualifying results

1. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88, 1:28.685
2. Carson Hocevar, No. 77, 1:28.884
3. Noah Gragson, No. 4, 1:29.596
4. Michael McDowell, No. 71, 1:29.61
5. Ryan Preece, No. 60, 1:29.688
6. Zane Smith, No. 38, 1:30.478
7. Justin Haley, No. 7, 1:30.495
8. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42, 1:30.841
9. Ty Gibbs, No. 54, 1:30.918
10. Ty Dillon, No. 10, 1:31.444
11. Cole Custer, No. 41, 1:32.05
12. Erik Jones, No. 43, 1:35.957
13. Riley Herbst, No. 35, 1:39.65
14. Bubba Wallace, No. 23, 1:39.69
15. Cody Ware, No. 15, 1:39.791
16. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16, 1:50.942
17. Todd Gilliland, No. 34, 2:02.695
18. Chad Finchum, No. 66, 2:24.025

NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge results

1. No. 71, 12.587
2. No. 99, 12.6
3. No. 4, 12.669
4. No. 19, 12.695
5. No. 20, 12.709
6. No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team, 12.813
7. No. 2, 12.886
8. No. 77, 13.059
9. No. 60, 13.066
10. No. 6, 13.081
11. No. 88, 13.175
12. No. 3, 13.269
13. No. 17, 13.309
14. No. 1, 13.42
15. No. 35, 13.559
16. No. 54, 13.741
17. No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet team, 13.973
18. No. 47, 14.012
19. No. 10, 14.038
20. No. 38, 14.04
21. No. 22, 14.064
22. No. 7, 14.085
23. No. 42, 14.166
24. No. 11, 14.46
25. No. 45, 14.887
26. No. 9 Prime Video Chevrolet team, 14.999
27. No. 12, 15.041
28. No. 8, 15.287
29. No. 23, 15.58
30. No. 21, 15.623
31. No. 15, 15.794
32. No. 41, 15.957
33. No. 51, 17.044
34. No. 66, 17.075
35. No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team, 17.722
36. No. 43, 19.848
37. No. 16, 24.69 (10-second penalty)
38. No. 34, 26.417 (10-second penalty)

NASCAR All Star Heat race starting lineups

HEAT 1

1. Brad Keselowski, No. 6
2. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
3. William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet
4. Austin Dillon, No. 3
5. Tyler Reddick, No. 45
6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
7. Josh Berry, No. 21
8. Ross Chastain, No. 1
9. Ryan Blaney No. 12

*NOTE: Justin Allgaier qualified the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Kyle Larson. Larson will not run in his heat race.

HEAT 2

1. Christopher Bell, No. 20
2. Chase Briscoe, No. 19
3. Joey Logano, No. 22
4. Denny Hamlin, No. 11
5. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Prime Video Chevrolet
6. Kyle Busch, No. 8
7. Harrison Burton, No. 51
8. Chris Buescher, No. 17
9. Austin Cindric, No. 2
10. Daniel Suarez, No. 99

NASCAR practice results

1. Tyler Reddick, No. 45, 18.198
2. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Prime Chevrolet, 18.233
3. Bubba Wallace, No. 23, 18.237
4. Christopher Bell, No. 20, 18.265
5. Erik Jones, No. 43, 18.271
6. Ross Chastain, No. 1, 18.274
7. Brad Keselowski, No. 6, 18.29
8. William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet, 18.294
9. Kyle Busch, No. 8, 18.307
10. Joey Logano, No. 22, 18.313
11. Josh Berry, No. 21, 18.32
12. Ty Gibbs, No. 54, 18.321
13. Austin Cindric, No. 2, 18.327
14. Todd Gilliland, No. 34, 18.349
15. Daniel Suarez, No. 99, 18.361
16. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42, 18.364
17. Ryan Blaney, No. 12, 18.373
18. Denny Hamlin, No. 11, 18.39
19. Riley Herbst, No. 35, 18.4
20. Ty Dillon, No. 10, 18.416
21. Justin Haley, No. 7, 18.42
22. Ryan Preece, No. 60, 18.421
23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47, 18.423
24. Justin Allgaier, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 18.434
25. Chase Briscoe, No. 19, 18.437
26. Noah Gragson, No. 4, 18.44
27. Carson Hocevar, No. 77, 18.441
28. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88, 18.447
29. Zane Smith, No. 38, 18.471
30. Chris Buescher, No. 17, 18.476
31. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16, 18.487
32. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 18.5
33. Michael McDowell, No. 71, 18.512
34. Harrison Burton, No. 51, 18.529
35. Austin Dillon, No. 3, 18.549
36. Cole Custer, No. 41, 18.58
37. Cody Ware, No. 15, 18.682
38. Chad Finchum, No. 66, 19.212

NASCAR All Star Race TV schedule

(All times listed in eastern time)

Saturday, May 17

• 9:35 a.m. – CRAFTSMAN Truck Series practice, FS1
• 10:35 – CRAFTSMAN Truck Series qualifying, FS1
• 1:30 p.m. – CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, FS1
• 5:10 – Cup Series Heat 1, FS2
• 6:15 – Cup Series Heat 2, FS2

Sunday, May 18

• 5 – Cup Series All-Star Open, FS1
• 8 p.m. – Cup Series All-Star race, FS1

Where is North Wilkesboro Speedway?

North Wilkesboro Speedway is located in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina

Josh Berry, driver of the No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Wood Brothers Racing, secured his spot in the All-Star Race earlier this year with his first career victory, taking the checkered flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Berry spoke about being part of the main event earlier today at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

JOSH BERRY, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse – DOES NORTH WILKESBORO STILL FEEL AS IMPORTANT TODAY AS 2023 AND WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES FOR THE FUTURE WITH THIS TRACK? “Yeah, I think so. It’s been a lot of fun the last couple of years coming back here. They’ve done an amazing job with the facility. It’s probably one of the, if not the nicest short track in this area now, at least that you can take late model cars and race at, so a super good job. It’s been fun. I think all I’m looking for is as the track ages some and hopefully continues to widen out and creates more grooves and just races better.”

YOU HAVE A SPECIAL PAINT SCHEME. DOES THE GOOD RUN LAST NIGHT HELP AS FAR AS MOMENTUM FOR THE REST OF THE WEEKEND? “I don’t think I take a lot of momentum necessarily from last night, but I think we have a lot of momentum from how we’ve been running. Obviously, a couple missed opportunities here or there, but we’ve been really fast and that’s what it takes to win these races. We’ve just got to work on the execution things a little bit better. That starts today and if we can do that, I feel like there’s no reason why we can’t contend for this thing.”

WHAT IMPACT DO YOU THINK THIS TIRE WILL HAVE ON THE RACING, AND HOW SIMILAR DOES THE MARTINSVILLE TIRE FEEL FROM A STANDARD SHORT TRACK TIRE YOU’RE USED TO? “It’s hard to say. I think hopefully the Martinsville tire has more fall off. That’s really what we’re after. It’s gonna be hard to say if that’s the case. We’re racing at night time with cooler track temps and that will help tire wear, but I really don’t know what to expect. I don’t think it really compares much to last night. I mean, racing those cars at a place like this they tend to bring harder tires than what you would run at the average short track, just because of the speed, so it’s not really a direct comparison, but hopefully the Martinsville tire adds a little bit of fall off to it and creates some more strategy.”

DOES THIS TRACK STILL HAVE A LOT OF GRIP OR IS IT STARTING TO AGE A BIT? “It’s still got a lot of grip. I think it came in quicker. You tend to see with repaves with no rubber down they can be really kind of sketchy the first couple of laps until rubber gets put down, but it seemed like that was a little better, so I think it will be pretty normal. I don’t think the surface has changed a whole lot.”

WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES THE COCA-COLA 600 SUCH A COMPETITIVE RACE? “It’s the longest race in our sport and that opens up a lot of opportunities for comers and goers. You obviously have to have a good balance to start the race, but then it cools off and you’ve got to stay up with the track. It’s just a grind. For us, I’m really excited to get there with the speed we’ve had on the intermediates. I finished 10th there last year. Obviously, I would have liked to run the full 600 miles to get the full experience, but I think it’s a fun one. It’s a crown jewel. The prerace is a lot of fun and really special. We’re excited to get there.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE SPORT TO BE AROUND CHARLOTTE? “It’s home for nearly all of us, so to get to race at home and bring your friends and family, there’s always a good crowd. The pits are always packed, so that just makes it a little extra special.”

IT’S BEEN NEARLY A YEAR SINCE SHR ANNOUNCED ITS PLANS TO GO AWAY. WHAT GOES THROUGH OUR MIND AS YOU REFLECT ON YOUR JOURNEY THIS PAST YEAR SINCE THAT ANNOUNCEMENT? “It’s been a lot. A lot happened in 12 months from that point. The biggest thing is I’m just really thankful for this opportunity that I’ve been in with the 21 team. It’s been such a great fit for all of us and whenever you go through that transition you wonder how it’s gonna work and how it’s gonna be. Last year was hard. We went through this stretch through the summer and had some good runs, showed some potential. There were races we were in contention and then towards the end it got super hard just to be competitive and then you leave your season wondering how good you are at this stuff. To come into the 21 team and put in the work we did in the offseason just getting to know each other and to come out with the speed like we’ve had, it’s been a big deal. I’m just super proud of that and thankful for the opportunity to go drive for them. It’s been a lot of fun this season. It’s just crazy how quickly things can change, I guess.”

THREE OF THE FOUR OF YOU GUYS ARE IN A PLAYOFF SPOT RIGHT NOW. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN WITH THE JOURNEY ALL OF YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH? “It’s hard to say. Obviously, we’re faster and I don’t know why. There was tons of amazing people there. I don’t really know why it’s been so different, but we’re just more competitive. I think last year a lot of people looked at us as underperforming and now we’re overperforming. It changes just like that. The perception has changed completely. Like I said, I think we’ve all fallen into really good positions with great teams and I’m thankful for that. Thankfully, we all did enough last year to find those opportunities and come out on the other side of it.”

HOW MUCH PRIDE TO YOU TAKE IN CONTRIBUTING TO THE LATE MODEL STOCK CAR SERIES AS THE ALL-TIME WINNER, AND WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO CUP SERIES FANS AS TO WHY THEY SHOULD WATCH TONIGHT ON FS1? “It’s obviously really cool to get them on FS1. 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. I’ll be honest. 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 then 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.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE IDENTITY FOR THIS ALL-STAR RACE SHOULD BE MOVING FORWARD? “I think most of us would have liked to have seen something to change it up a little bit. I think the run what you brung deal was way far out of expectation. I think it was too far out, but I’m sure teams would have been interested in doing some sort of change to just see what happens. I feel like they’ve done that in year’s past to get a data point for how to improve the racing, so I don’t know. Obviously, it was on their radar if they were considering to do that kind of race. It was on their radar to do something different, but maybe the timetable just didn’t work out to get it all figured out. I think this race should be an opportunity for us to maybe try things under a race setting, whatever that is – whether it’s tires or aero or horsepower or anything along those lines, just to see if we can help the product. We’re all still gonna be just as competitive and race just as hard and all the teams are gonna work just as hard. There’s a million dollars on the line. It’s not like it’s gonna change anything. We’ll just see if something sticks, I guess.”

WHAT’S THE FRUSTRATION LEVEL NOW AND HOW DIFFERENT IS IT HAVING TOUGH FINISHES WHEN YOU’RE RUNNING WELL? “The frustration is considerably less compared to last year. Being competitive is the biggest thing. That’s the hardest thing to figure out is how to be fast and lead these races and get yourself in contention, and we’ve done that a lot. It’s frustrating to make mistakes and those mistakes fall on me, but all we can do is just continue to put me in that position and keep working on those things and getting better and the finishes will come. We’re fortunate to have that win in the bank and, like I said, I’m not very frustrating with how it’s been going. To be leading the race at Texas. We see when you hit that bump I wrecked, but it was a learning thing to learn what we need to do better the next time. Last week stings more because I think we had a chance at that one if I didn’t speed on pit road, so that one stung a little bit more, but, all in all, our whole team is doing a great job. Our cars are fast and we’ve just got to do the little things a little bit better and we’ll be up there.”

IS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO BE IN THE TOP 16 IN POINTS WHEN THE PLAYOFFS START EVEN THOUGH YOU ALREADY HAVE A SPOT CLINCHED? “Yeah. It’s a different point system from what we’ve had in year’s past, but it’s still a way to rank your season. We want to be up there as high as we can and be more consistent being there. That’s the way you take the next step into being a championship contender or championship favorite. It’s the speed and the consistency, so if we’re able to keep clawing up the standings, I think that’s another sign that we’re continuing to progress and we’re gonna try to do the best that we can each and every week and score as many points as we can.”

Ford Performance PR

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — ECR Engines is closing in on a cause for AJ Allmendinger’s blown engine last weekend at Kansas Speedway, a failure that led to the driver’s radio rant against the engine company that Richard Childress serves as Chairman and CEO.

Allmendinger’s engine blew after six laps last weekend. After the engine blew, Allmendinger said on his team’s radio: “Hey ECR, you guys (expletive) suck.”

When a team member asked if he had lost an engine, Allmendinger replied on the radio: “Yeah, shockingly.”

The engine failure was the second of the season for Allmendinger. Those have been the only two engine failures for ECR in the Cup Series.

ECR provides engines for Kaulig Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Trackhouse Racing and Beard Motorsports.

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

Childress told NBC Sports on Friday at North Wilikesboro that he had yet to talk to Allmendinger but expressed his displeasure with Allmendinger’s comments, noting how other drivers have reacted on a team’s radio after an engine failure.

“The 12 (Ryan Blaney) blew up two times,” Childress said. “The 48 (Alex Bowman) blew up (one time). They never said anything. It’s how you want to run your mouth.”

Childress said he wanted to talk to Allmendinger when there was a definitive answer to the engine’s failure.

“I want to know what happened to the engine,” Childress said. “When (Allmendinger) jumps out (of the car at Kansas), he don’t even know if the belt come off the oil pump or what.”

Adding to the frustrations for Allmendinger is that the engine failure marked the second consecutive race he failed to finish. A crash ended his day at Texas in the previous race. Those two finishes dropped him from 15th in the points to 25th heading into next weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Joey Logano won last year’s All-Star Race, leading 199 of 200 laps.

Danny Lawrence, vice president of alliance operations for ECR Engines, told NBC Sports that debris may have caused the issue with Allmendinger’s engine last weekend at Kansas.

“It was a bearing issue,” Lawrence said. “We at RCR and ECR have a quality control department. They’re struggling to figure out exactly what happened. They’ve sent the bearings off to be analyzed, but the initial (cause) looks like lack of lubrication.

“That engine had ran at Darlington. We’re not so sure that we didn’t have some kind of foreign material, something, an oil line or something happened for (the) lack of lubrication.”

Lawrence said what caused the failure with two of the eight bearings should be known this week.

As to what could have got in the line, Lawrence is unsure.

“We have filters on the oil going in, we have filters on the oil coming out,” Lawrence said. “So it’s baffling, but Richard is holding a strong arm (saying) ‘I want answers to be able to show (Kaulig Racing President) Chris Rice and (team owner) Matt Kaulig. We’re going to know exactly (what happened) and try to make sure this never happens again.”