Information By: HEATHER GRIFFIN / RICK WARE RACING – NORTH WILKESBORO, NC
RICK WARE RACING
All-Star Open and All-Star Race
Date: May 19, 2024
Event: NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race (non-points events)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway (.625-mile oval)
NASCAR All-Star Open: 100 laps, with a competition break at or around lap 50
● Race Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
● Second Place: Bubba Wallace Jr. of 23XI Racing (Toyota)
● Fan Vote Winner: Noah Gragson of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Note:The All-Star Open was the undercard event to the NASCAR All-Star Race, where non-qualified drivers attempted to race their way into the All-Star Race by winning the Open, finishing second in the Open, or by winning the fan vote.
NASCAR All-Star Race: 200 laps, with competition breaks at or around lap 100 and lap 150
● Race Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Note: The NASCAR All-Star Race was comprised of drivers who won a points-paying race in 2023 or 2024, fulltime drivers who have previously won the All-Star Race, fulltime drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup Series championship, and drivers who advanced from the All-Star Open.
RWR Race Finish in the All-Star Open:
● Justin Haley (Started 16th, Finished 4th/ Running, completed 100 of 100 laps)
● Kaz Grala (Started 18th, Finished 11th/ Running, completed 100 of 100 laps)
RWR Notes:
● Haley was vying for his second All-Star Race appearance. He competed in the 2020 All-Star Race by virtue of his 2019 win at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and finished 14th.
● Haley’s fourth-place finish was one spot short of tying his best All-Star Open finish – third earned in 2022.
● This was Grala’s first career All-Star Open.
● Both RWR cars qualified in the top-five prior to the session being interrupted by rain while the final two cars were on track. The field was set by points according to the rule book.
Race Notes:
● Logano won the All-Star Race with a .636 of second margin of victory over runner-up Denny Hamlin.
● This was Ford’s 14th win in the All-Star Race.
● The All-Star Race featured two lead changes among two different drivers. Twenty drivers comprised the field.
Sound Bites:
“We had a good car. I wish we could have started where we qualified in second, but all around it was a good day for us. We’ll keep riding this momentum. We’ve brought fast race cars every week, so we’ll just keep going with it. I had a lot of fun, especially on the red tires. We had a little more grip so I could move quicker to make things happen, but they wear out a little more. It was just hard to pass so it was nice to have that option to make up some ground.”– Justin Haley, driver of the No. 51 Pinnacle Home Improvements Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“It was cool to have as much speed as we had this weekend. We got shuffled back on the last restart, and still drove back up to 11th. Both of our RWR cars were top-five on pace in the Open and I think both of us would have had a great chance to transfer if we had lined up in order of qualifying. We’ve had a lot of potential lately, and it’s exciting every week when we show up to the racetrack. I like the momentum that we have heading into the Coca-Cola 600.” – Kaz Grala, driver of the No. 15 Remixers.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to points-paying racing on Sunday, May 26 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The longest race on the series’ schedule gets underway at 6 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.