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

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?

After a strong run at Kansas Speedway led to another NASCAR Cup Series victory, Kyle Larson continues to be one of the two top racers of the season thus far.

The season is one-third over entering this weekend’s All-Star Race, and the Hendrick Motorsports driver has already won three times, tying him with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell for the series lead. Throw in a pair of wins by JGR’s Denny Hamlin, and those three hotshots account for eight of the 12 checkered flags.

From an organizational standpoint, it runs even deeper: While JGR leads the series with five wins, HMS has been triumphant four times (counting William Byron’s Daytona 500 win) and Team Penske accounts for two victories (Austin Cindric, Joey Logano).

The lone outlier is Josh Berry’s Las Vegas win for Wood Brothers Racing — who have a technical alliance with Penske through Ford — meaning essentially three racing stables have scored all 12 victories so far.

That type of domination is evident in Larson, who will look to win the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday night for the second time in the sport’s third race since returning to North Wilkesboro Speedway in the mountains of North Wilkesboro, N.C.

In the 2023 exhibition race, Larson drove from the back of the field and led 145 laps, blazing his way around the reborn, historic short track and beating runner-up Bubba Wallace by 4.537 seconds in the 200-lap event.

The Elk Grove, Calif., native joined elite company with his third win in the non-points race, having previously prevailed in 2019 and 2021. He tied Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990, 1993) and Jeff Gordon (1995, 1997, 2001) with three All-Star wins. Jimmie Johnson has won four times (2003, 2006, 2012, 2013).

When it comes to dominating North Wilkesboro’s five-eighths-of-a-mile layout, nobody did it better than Logano a year ago when he earned the pole, led all but one of 200 in his No. 22 Ford and ousted Hamlin by 0.636 seconds in the 40th annual race.

Mired in a terrible 2024, Logano had been winless through 13 points races and used the momentum to start a run to his third championship.

In practice on Friday, Tyler Reddick topped the charts with a lap of 18.198 seconds (123.640 mph) to beat Chase Elliott and Wallace as drivers shook down their cars in long runs before their qualifying efforts.

Qualifying consisted of three laps with drivers pitting on the second time around for four tires and fuel before turning a final circuit.

Sporting the purple and gold colors of East Carolina University, RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski put his No. 6 Ford on the pole with a combined time of 1:27.362. Bell’s No. 20 Toyota was runner-up at 1:28.252.

“It’s one thing I’ve never done in my career,” Keselowski, who is 33rd in points, said of his pole-winning showing in the $1 million payday race. “Total team effort. Pit crew and team gave me a rock-solid car and a rock-solid pit stop … and I nailed the lap.”

The 2012 Cup title winner will have the pole for both a heat race on Saturday and the 200-lap main event on Sunday.

The Spire Motorsports crew of Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Chevrolet won the $100,000 Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge for the fastest stop during qualifying, 12.587 seconds.

–Field Level Media

After Brad Keselowski earned pole position in qualifying on Friday, the rest of the grid was determined by a pair of heat races on Saturday. To put it simply, Heat #1 results decide the inside row for the All-Star Race while Heat #2 results decide the outside row with ten drivers in each heat.

On Sunday, the 18 drivers who are not yet locked into the All-Star Race will take part in their own race with the top-two finishers from the ‘Open’ advancing into the main event. Now for a breakdown of Saturday’s heat races:

Heat #1

Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

It’s been a difficult and at times nightmarish season for Keselowski, but the weekend at North Wilkesboro has offered him some relief. He held off all challengers to win the first heat race of the night, even though a couple of drivers got very close in trying to snatch the top spot away.

When the planned competition caution flew in the middle of the race, Keselowski stayed out while Ross Chastain and several others pitted, taking on a set of fresh sticker tires. Those drivers quickly charged through the field with Chastain drawing even with Keselowski in a fierce battle for the race lead. However, the tires ultimately overheated while running the bottom and he was left defending the runner-up spot for the remainder of the race.

He battled back-and-forth with William Byron and Ryan Blaney as the three drivers fought over the spot that would determine who starts third in the All-Star Race on Sunday. Chastain held on over Byron by just a nose while Blaney finished fourth and Alex Bowman fifth.

Josh Berry was sixth, Tyler Reddick seventh, Austin Dillon eighth, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ninth. Kyle Larson’s car did not take part in the heat race since its driver was busy qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 today. So, Larson will come from the last row of the grid on Sunday, which he also did one year ago.

“It doesn’t hurt,” said Keselowski after the win. “It’s been a good two days for everyone on this #6 crew … It’s good to be starting up front with this Ford Mustang. To be running fast, this is fun.”

Speaking about the tire difference, Keselowski added: “Those guys who put tires on were really hard to hold off. I had the preferred groove and just tried to use it to my advantage. We’ll see if that’s the case tomorrow.

Heat #2

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

Christopher Bell was in control of the second heat race from start-to-finish and no one was able to mount a real challenge against him. During the competition caution, nearly the entire field pitted for fresh rubber with most taking four, but Bell took two right-sides instead and narrowly avoided his tire changer on the way out.

Chase Briscoe was the lone driver who rolled the dice and chose to stay out. He inherited the race lead, but it did not last long as he quickly faded through the field. However, he could not get out of the way quick enough, spinning after contact from Daniel Suarez and hitting the door of Denny Hamlin.

This was the only incident of the entire night as Bell set sail for the remainder of the race, taking the win over Joey Logano and Chase Elliott. Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher filled out the rest of the top five while the remainder of the top ten was as follows: Suarez, Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton, Hamlin.

“Maybe the Mobil 1 Camry is a million-dollar Camry,” smiled Bell after the win, guaranteeing him the outside of the front row. “It’s feeling really good. I knew yesterday in practice that if they could get some rear grip in it, I felt like I had a lot of car potential. The guys did an amazing job on just making the car better overnight and it was really refreshing to get out there and just cruise those first 30 laps. Then, I didn’t know how it was going to work with having Joey [Logano] right behind me, but this thing was on rails. I’m really happy and excited about the opportunity tomorrow.”

All-Star Race lineup