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NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Joey Logano won the pole for the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday, earning the top starting spot for the sport’s annual all-star event with a total time of 89.754 (75.206 mph) in a unique qualifying session. Logano’s time was the fastest in total, accounting for time on the racetrack as well as time spent on pit road.
All-Star qualifying featured NASCAR’s annual Pit Crew Challenge, putting some of the top pit crews in the Cup Series to the test as their drivers made their lap on-track and then came to pit road for a four-tire stop. While Logano’s total time was the best of all drivers, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew had the fastest stop at 13.223 seconds, giving them the Pit Crew Challenge victory and aiding driver Christopher Bell to a third-place qualifying run.
On-track activities Friday and Saturday featured a familiar face in an unexpected place. With Kyle Larson at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway qualifying for his first Indy 500, 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion and future NASCAR Hall of Famer Kevin Harvick briefly came out of retirement to practice and qualify the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Harvick would qualify 12th of the 17 drivers currently in the All-Star Race, but Larson will have to drop of the rear of the field for Sunday night’s race due to his team’s driver change, per the NASCAR rulebook.
Larson wound up qualifying sixth at Indianapolis, putting him in the Fast 12 that will run for the Indianapolis 500 pole on Sunday. As for Harvick, he would change out of his firesuit after his run and quickly resumed his broadcasting duties for Fox Sports.
As Logano’s qualifying effort had assured him the top starting spot for the All-Star Race, the rest of the starting lineup was to be determined by a pair of Heat races on Saturday evening. However, extreme rains would hit North Wilkesboro during the afternoon’s Craftsman Truck Series race — the track later announced that four inches of rain fell within a two-hour period, flooding many areas, including pit road — resulting in the Heats being cancelled and the lineup being set per the results of time trial qualifying.
Rain on Friday afternoon also altered the lineup for the All-Star Open, as late showers that prevented some drivers from making a proper lap led to all of time trials being discarded and the lineup being set by owner’s points. Ty Gibbs and Alex Bowman will start on the front row for the Open, which will see the top two finishers — plus the fan vote winner — advance to the All-Star Race.
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Author: Steven Taranto
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A night to remember for the third-year WR
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