Memorial Day weekend is upon us, which means all three of NASCAR’s national series will be in action at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The three-race weekend will culminate with one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ crown-jewel events, the Coca-Cola 600.

Here’s who’s entered this weekend.

The Coca-Cola 600 will be held on Sunday, May 25, at 6 p.m. ET. Amazon Prime will handle the TV coverage for NASCAR’s longest night.

Forty teams are entered, meaning that everyone will make the show, barring any entry list changes.

The NY Racing Team No. 44 will make the trip to Charlotte, but the driver has yet to be announced.

Josh Bilicki makes his return to Cup action in the No. 66 for Garage 66.

Jimmie Johnson will make his 700th Cup start in the No. 84 for Legacy Motor Club.

Trackhouse Racing’s No. 87 makes a return with Connor Zilisch behind the wheel. This will be his second start in the series.

After a two-week hiatus, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action. The BetMGM 300 will run on Saturday, May 24, at 4:30 p.m. ET via The CW.

There are 40 entries listed, meaning two teams will head home following qualifying, unless there are any entry list changes.

The Richard Childress Racing No. 3 returns to the Xinifty Series with Austin Dillon behind the wheel. This is Dillon’s first start in the series this year if he makes the show.

William Byron will drive the No. 17 for Hendrick Motorsports.

Chase Briscoe will make his first Xfinity start of the year in the No. 19 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Carson Ware will drive the No. 35 for Joey Gase Motorsports. The team’s No. 53 is also entered, but a driver has not yet been announced.

Brad Perez will drive the No. 45 for Alpha Prime Racing.

Zilisch returns from injury to pilot the No. 88 for JR Motorsports.

CJ McLaughlin will drive the No. 91 for DGM Racing.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will contest the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 on Friday, May 23, at 8:30 p.m. ET, on FOX Sports 1.

There are 34 trucks entered, meaning everyone makes the show after qualifying, barring any entry list changes.

Brandon Jones is back in the No. 1 for Tricon Garage.

Stefan Parsons will drive the No. 02 for Young’s Motorsports.

The No. 2 for Reaume Brothers Racing will be driven by Cody Dennison, while Mason Maggio will pilot the No. 22.

BJ McLeod will make his first truck start this season in the No. 07 for Spire Motorsports, while Kyle Busch is back in the team’s No. 7.

Niece Motorsports’ No. 44 will have Ross Chastain at the helm.

Timmy Hill will make his 500th NASCAR start in the No. 56 for Hill Motorsports.

Luke Fenhaus takes over the No. 66 for ThorSport Racing.

Justin Carroll will drive the No. 90 for Terry Carroll Motorsports.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A day after finishing second in the All-Star Race and being critical of how Christopher Bell raced him for the win, Joey Logano told NBC Sports that how Bell drove him “wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.”

Bell and Logano dueled much of the final 20 laps Sunday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Logano blocked Bell and tried to take his lane away while Bell worked to get by. Bell made a second attempt and eventually moved Logano up the track and took the lead with 10 laps to go. Bell went on to win his first All-Star Race.

After the race, Logano expressed his displeasure with Bell’s move.

“I did all I could do to hold him off and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option,” Logano told FS1. “Kind of just ran me up into the wall, and if I could’ve got to him, he was going around after a move like that, I just couldn’t get back to him.”

Christopher Bell has won five points races and the All-Star Race since last year’s Coca-Cola 600.

Monday, before a ceremony by the mayor of Mooresville and Town Board honoring the teams of Logano and Ryan Blaney for winning the last three Cup titles, Logano admitted he had a different take on how Bell raced him in those final laps.

“When I went back and re-watched it, I was like, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it was,” Logano told NBC Sports. “If he did that (move Logano up the track) the first time he got to me, I’d be like, ‘Dude, why would you do that?’

“But he made solid attempts to pass me. I ran him all up and down the racetrack. So I opened the door. Like at that point, I opened the door (to more aggressive racing). I had to do that to try to maintain the lead.

“But it also to me, it was like, OK, well, if you’re willing to do that, you should be able to move that person up the racetrack. Then I should have been able to get back at him.

“I set the tone that we’re going to race like assholes. It’s OK that he did that to me. But in the moment you’re just pissed, right? You’re just like, ‘He ran me up the track.’ Then when I watched it, I was like, ‘Nah, it’s probably warranted.’

“So, I shouldn’t have said that (after the race). You’re mad. It is what it is. He knocked me up and then moved me up. Would I have done the same? Probably. Especially after someone ran me all over the racetrack like I did, I probably would have done the same.

“I’m a really bad loser. I’m a sore loser. I can’t help it. It is who I am, but I think that’s also what makes us winners.”

An 18-hole Bunkers & Bumps-style course was recently designed and installed by Adventure Golf & Sports (AGS) on property owned by the NOLA Motorsports Park on the outskirts of New Orleans in Avondale, Louisiana. The park plans to brand the mini golf course along with oversized yard games, arcade games, a future craft pizza kitchen and sports bar + coffee bar along with existing Go-Karting as “Throttle & Swing” – and promote it as a new FEC adjacent to the automotive racetrack.

When David Pace, CEO of NOLA Motorsports, arrived in 2020, there was a Go Kart track on a piece of property that added some value to the racetrack and was doing well financially. “But it needed something else to add to it,” says Pace. “Driving 20 minutes to half an hour just to spend eight minutes on Go Karts and then you’re done and you’re like ‘what else is there to do?’ I had to figure out what was the best piece to add to it. After spending some time doing a lot of research, visiting a lot of places, going to IAAPA [Expo] and also spending some time with the locals doing surveys, ‘mini golf’ came up more than one time. So that’s what drove me down this route and I knew from my research, seeing what PopStroke has done with Tiger Woods, that that was the new fad.

“The newest, hottest site out there is a mini golf course that looks like a real course, not something with windmills and animation. So that’s kind of why we went this route. And after meeting with AGS at IAAPA and talking to a couple different places, I realized they had the ability and seemed like the best group for us to head down this path.”

According to AGS, the Bunkers & Bumps-style mini golf course they designed and installed over the top of a portion of a huge asphalt parking lot adjacent to the motorsports park is an eco-friendly, miniaturized professional-looking golf course using interlocking, patented, permeable panels. “We had to do some site work prior to them getting here,” says Pace. “We just had to create a drainage field underneath and cover it with a layer of sand. Then we turned it over to them.” AGS used various layers and permeable turf to cover the panels, creating slopes, rolling terrain and faux sand bunkers. Unlike traditional mini golf that often uses bricks, walls, obstacles and theme elements for boundaries, Bunkers & Bumps relies on various terrain designs and rough turf to shape holes.

AGS used 75,000 pounds of recycled rubber to create elevation changes on the course, with some of the hole elevations changing three to five feet. “It’s quite a challenging course,” says Dustin Tandy, the AGS crew supervisor of the installation. “Players really need skill to read the greens.”

“It’s an 18-hole miniature golf course offering families a fun experience,” says Pace. “It’s larger than most 18-hole miniature golf courses and it’s got two cups per hole and one of them is always plugged, so we’re able to make it so that the experience is never the same. We can rotate the holes that are plugged or unplugged anytime we want.

“[AGS] did a really good job. There was a lot of ad-lib where we had to move away from the actual drawing and use the landscaping as it falls and be creative. They did a good job with that. My sales contact and all the office staff were great to work with as well.”

CLAREMONT, N.H. ― After a stretch of challenging weather conditions across the Northeast, Claremont Motorsports Park is thrilled to kick off the action on Memorial Day weekend, Friday night, May 23. Racers and fans alike have been eagerly anticipating the return of high-speed excitement, and the upcoming event promises to deliver just that.

Headlining the night’s racing card is the NASCAR Advanced Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series, showcasing thrilling competition in multiple divisions. Fans can look forward to the Asetex Tire and Auto 604 Modifieds, the R. E, Hinkley Super Streets, and the much-anticipated return of the Outlaw Late Models. Additionally, the Lavalley Building Supply Pure Stocks, JP’s Trucking Ridge Runners and a special Appearance by the Jr Champs Karts form the Claremont Karting Series, promising more wheel-to-wheel action and intense battles for position.

With the weather finally cooperating, Claremont Motorsports Park is ready to welcome back its dedicated community of fans and drivers. Gates open at 5 p.m., and the first green flag waves at 7. Be sure to join us for an unforgettable night of racing and help us kick off Memorial Day weekend in high gear.

For more information, visit claremontmotorsportspark.com or on social media. 

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Talk started this weekend and grew after 250 laps of the best racing on a short track that NASCAR Cup fans have seen this year.

Is it time for North Wilkesboro to host a points race and move the All-Star Race to another venue?

Brad Keselowski suggested this weekend that NASCAR do so. He said the All-Star Race should move to Charlotte Motor Speedway. And then, he said, get rid of the Roval race.

Ryan Blaney said after Sunday night’s All-Star Race that he liked Keselowski’s idea.

Brad Keselowski made his comments after winning the pole for Sunday’s All-Star Race.

But let’s hold off just yet on moving the All-Star Race.

This was the second year since a repave. The track widened Sunday and the racing showed with an All-Star record 18 lead changes. The track should continue to get better.

“I thought the race tonight was really, really good,” Kyle Busch told NBC Sports. “Put on a good show. There was actually a pass for the lead in the final 30 laps.”

Busch would like to see the All-Star Race remain at North Wilkesboro.

“I think it’s good right now,” he said. “Let’s leave it good for as long as it is.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver earned his first All-Star Race victory.

So, here’s a thought.

Keep the All-Star Race in North Wilkesboro another year. NASCAR can then give this historic track in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains a points race in 2027.

That could allow NASCAR to move the All-Star Race to Bowman Gray Stadium, giving that track an event in May the week before the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

NASCAR then could move the season-opening Clash to another location, possibly an international destination. With no races before the Clash and a weekend off between it and the Daytona 500, NASCAR would have the flexibility to move the Clash outside the United States, a concept series officials want to do.

Also, making this change in 2027 gives NASCAR an additional year to figure out what track would lose a points race to North Wilkesboro. Much work has already gone into next year’s schedule at this point.

Let’s be honest, a short track should host the All-Star Race. The fans are close to the track and provide an energy and vibe that is harder for bigger tracks to replicate even with more people in the stands.

The All-Star Race is about energy. Drivers are introduced to fans while a DJ plays music and flames shoot skyward. At North Wilkesboro, drivers and their pit crews walk to the stands, high-fiving fans and throwing hats into the crowd.

North Wilkesboro is legendary for its fan interaction, whether it was fans tossing chicken bones after they finished eating to cheering local hero Junior Johnson’s drivers.

What NASCAR Cup Series drivers were talking about after Sunday’s All-Star Race extravaganza at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

“Man, they show up, and it’s just absolutely incredible,” All-Star Race winner Christopher Bell said of the North Wilkesboro crowd.

“We go out for driver intros and the place was packed. … We need more events like this, more races like this. I love that we revived this racetrack, and now with Rockingham getting revived and had an amazing Xfinity race. I think just continuing to go to different racetracks, that’s the key for success.

“You can’t just beat the same racetracks up over and over and go to them twice a year. I think continuing to diversify the schedule, get to where we’re going to every venue one time a year, and I think you’re going to see the crowds engage and have awesome electricity throughout the races. And yeah, it really is awesome to be a part of.”

Imagine what it could be like for a points race.

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — As NASCAR has expanded into new markets over the past few years, some of these additions have seen fan support taper off by the third year, the shiny new toys losing their luster.

North Wilkesboro Speedway found itself in similar territory this weekend. The rustic short track, once left for dead only to be brought back to life, hosted NASCAR’s non-points All-Star Race for a third consecutive year. Would fans continue to pack the place as they did when NASCAR first returned after a nearly 20-year absence and make it the exception to the rule?

This question was answered emphatically Sunday night, even before Christopher Bell outdueled Joey Logano in the closing laps to claim the $1 million winner’s prize. The sold-out crowd was amped during pre-race ceremonies, singing along to various songs over the public address system and loudly cheering and booing during driver intros. Then came the race itself, which more than delivered.

“For the third straight year, we’ve had tremendous support from fans not only in North Carolina but around the world who are captivated by the return of North Wilkesboro Speedway to the NASCAR circuit,” said Speedway Motorsports president and CEO Marcus Smith, whose company owns the facility. “Like Lambeau Field to football and Fenway Park to baseball, North Wilkesboro Speedway has become America’s throwback racetrack.”

If the idea is that the All-Star Race is supposed to be a special event that causes the crowd to be juiced to another level while also producing a stirring race, then Sunday night’s 250-lapper certainly checked these boxes. North Wilkesboro proved to be a worthy ongoing host, erasing the skepticism a track often faces in its critical third year, which heavily factors into whether it sticks around on the Cup Series schedule.

Going forward, the question surrounding North Wilkesboro isn’t about whether it should remain as host for the All-Star Race, but whether it should host something bigger — a points race.

“I think it deserves it,” Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman said. “I’m sure it has its challenges to pull it off, but it’s a great racetrack. It’s got a great vibe, and it’s a special place.”

Many others shared Bowman’s sentiment throughout the weekend, and this was before the green flag even waved on the main event. Moving forward, expect this drumbeat to grow louder. Even the FS1 broadcast got in on it, with commentators Mike Joy, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer stumping for this to happen.

“NORTH WILKESBORO – BEST SHORT TRACK ON THE SCHEDULE.”- Christopher Bell after his All-Star win pic.twitter.com/W1Hl8nfIDA

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 19, 2025

Bringing a points race to a new track is rarely straightforward. There is, however, a realistic path for North Wilkesboro.

As NASCAR has worked to overhaul its calendar over the last five-plus years, decision-makers have learned that the sport is best with a schedule featuring greater variety in the tracks across the 38-race schedule (36 points races and two exhibitions). They’ve also become more amenable to making bold changes.

This mindset already worked in North Wilkesboro’s favor in 2023, when the track landed the All-Star Race, something few thought possible. Similar thinking would need to happen this go-round too.

With the Cup schedule already at capacity, adding a new track somewhere requires a spot to be cleared. And this is where it gets complicated.

NASCAR isn’t likely to shift a date from one of the tracks it owns to an outside company, not when each date is worth millions and millions in television dollars and they’re exploring other markets. This means, in all likelihood, Speedway Motorsports would need to shift one of the 15 dates it has within its portfolio. These 15 races are held at one of 10 tracks the company owns outright and another at a venue it rents, Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.

A frequent suggestion is to shift the spring race at nearby Bristol Motor Speedway to North Wilkesboro. Attendance has been so-so at the Tennessee short track, and recent racing has left something to be desired.

With another packed crowd Sunday, there’s been no sign of enthusiasm waning for NASCAR at the revived North Wilkesboro Speedway. (David Jensen / Getty Images)

But, again, there are complications. Although Bristol’s spring race may appear to have sparse crowds, this is somewhat deceiving. The venue can accommodate 140,000-plus spectators, so a race at Bristol that is only one-third full will still outdraw a sellout at North Wilkesboro, where the max capacity is somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000. (Speedway Motorsports is a privately owned company and doesn’t release its exact attendance figures.)

There are other factors in play too. NASCAR already has several races in the Mid-Atlantic region, with eight tracks (Atlanta, Bowman Gray, Bristol, Charlotte, Darlington, Martinsville, North Wilkesboro and Richmond) hosting a combined 13 races. Bristol also has strong corporate support in the form of Food City, which since 1992 has served as entitlement sponsor for the spring race — the second-longest active race sponsorship. COTA is widely considered the likeliest candidate to move, since its contract with Speedway Motorsports is up for renewal, but this confined geographical setup makes moving a race from Texas to North Wilkesboro a head-scratcher.

“Whatever Marcus wants, it’s his place,” Trackhouse driver Ross Chastain said. “So if he wants to go to NASCAR and pitch something; I’m sure there’s a lot more than just saying, What do we want?’ It’s up to the track owners and promoters and our sanctioning body, so for me to even begin to comment, I’m like, ‘Whatever they want to do.’ But that was a great race. We definitely better keep coming back here.”

It’s a good problem to have for North Wilkesboro. Definitely better than what would’ve likely come if Sunday’s race failed to produce strong ticket sales and a solid race.

Instead, the fans showed out, the racing delivered, and North Wilkesboro’s spot on the Cup schedule — one way or another — is very much secure.

(Top photo of Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race: David Jensen / Getty Images)