NASCAR heads from one historic track to another. North Wilkesboro Speedway, after making its long-awaited return to NASCAR competition a year ago, is back to host the NASCAR All-Star Race yet again.
Wright Brand 250
Saturday, May 18 @ 1:30PM EST
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
250 Laps/156.25 Miles
Ross Chastain survived the chaos to win at Darlington last weekend in a race that was dominated by Corey Heim. Heim was caught up in an incident when his teammate Dean Thompson hit a bump on the exit of turn 2 and spun out, taking out Heim along with several other contenders.
Most Recent Winner At North Wilkesboro
Kyle Larson won at the famed North Wilkesboro Speedway last May.
Names To Watch
Brenden Queen: CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car driver Brenden “Butterbean” Queen will be making his Craftsman Truck Series debut on Saturday and will be driving the #1 for Tricon Garage. Queen is currently tied for 6th in the points standings in the CARS Tour’s Late Model Stock division. He also won the CARS Tour race at North Wilkesboro last season when the series visited in May.
Sammy Smith: Xfinity Series regular Sammy Smith will drive the #7 for Spire Motorsports this weekend. The #7 won this race last year with Kyle Larson behind the wheel.
Aric Almirola: 3-time Cup Series winner Aric Almirola returns to the Craftsman Truck Series, and so does Hattori Racing, the team that won the 2018 Series Championship with Brett Moffitt. Almirola will be driving the #16 Toyota Tundra this weekend.
My Pick To Win: Aric Almirola
NASCAR All-Star Race
Sunday, May 19 @ 8:00PM EST
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
200 Laps/125 Miles
Brad Keselowski put a long-awaited end to his 110-race winless streak last weekend at Darlington. Keselowski survived a dramatic late-race battle between himself, teammate Chris Buescher, and the man who dominated the race, Tyler Reddick. Reddick and Buescher made significant contact with around 10 laps to go when Reddick made an aggressive move to try and get the lead from Buescher; both drivers wound up in the wall and with a flat tire each. Keselowski would inherit the lead and wouldn’t look back to take his first checkered flag in over 3 years.
Most Recent Winner At North Wilkesboro
Kyle Larson capped off the weekend last May with a cool million-dollar bonus.
Names To Watch
Kyle Larson: Yung Money demolished the field last year, but he WILL be starting from the rear on Sunday Night as his focus remains on Qualifying for his first attempt at the Indianapolis 500. Kevin Harvick will practice and qualify Larson’s car on Friday Evening as Larson participates in the Indianapolis 500 Practice.
Chris Buescher & Tyler Reddick: I’m grouping these two together because, after last week’s incident, there was an altercation between the two on pit road after the race when Buescher approached Reddick and appeared to shove him. Buescher was as fired up as I have ever seen him, and he ripped into Reddick. Reddick vehemently apologized. It will be interesting to see if this develops any further this weekend with a Million Dollars on the line.
My Pick To Win: Denny Hamlin
Header Image: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
