HighPoint.com Driver Looking to Race His Way Into All-Star Race Via All-Star Open
- Event: NASCAR All-Star Open | NASCAR All-Star Race (non-points races)
- Time/Date: 5:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 19
- Location: North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway
- Layout: .625-mile oval
- Laps/Miles: 100 laps/62.5 miles | 200 laps/125 miles
- TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
This year marks the 40th running of the NASCAR All-Star Race, and while Chase Briscoe has competed in the last two All-Star Races, finishing 18th and fourth, respectively, he’s not assured a spot in this year’s exhibition event.
Briscoe has to race his way into the All-Star race via the undercard All-Star Open, a 100-lap race for drivers not qualified for the main event. Only drivers who have won a points race in either 2023 or 2024, drivers who have previously won the All-Star Race and still compete fulltime, and drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup Series championship and compete fulltime are eligible for the All-Star Race. Briscoe is one of 20 drivers looking to be among the top-two finishers in the Open, as only they will advance to the All-Star Race. However, a third Open driver will get into the All-Star Race via a fan vote, which will remain live until 5:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, when the green flag waves for the Open.
For Briscoe, he expects those transfer spots to be hotly contested.
“It’ll be cut-throat, for sure,” said the driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing. “There are no points on the line, so it’ll be extremely aggressive. Only the top-two move on. Everybody knows that going into it, so if you’re in second, or even if you’re in the lead, you’ve got to be on it and just be ready for anything.”
“Qualifying is going to be extremely important. Fortunately for us this year we’ve been really good in qualifying, so hopefully that’ll translate into the All-Star weekend and we can start up front in the Open and race our way in.”
Briscoe knows the value that comes with being in the All-Star Race. It’s added experience amongst the elite of the NASCAR Cup Series.
“The last two years, I’ve been able to just be locked into the All-Star Race and I didn’t have to do anything to get into it as far as the weekend itself. This time, it’ll kind of be like going back dirt racing where you have heat races, and if you don’t make the transfer, you’re done. You’re loading up and going to the house,” Briscoe said.
“It definitely makes you appreciate it a little bit more, being locked into it. It just makes it that much more important to go there and run good because that’s a race that you want to be a part of. The All-Star event itself, it’s nice to be able to have your name attached to that event, and obviously to be racing for a million bucks is super cool, too. So that’s definitely one you put a lot of emphasis on throughout the year, and obviously you know that when you do get a win that you’re locked into the All-Star Race, and that’s one of the perks of it.”
The All-Star Race returns to North (N.C.) Wilkesboro Speedway for a second straight year. Last year’s event at the .625-mile oval was the track’s first NASCAR race since Sept. 29, 1996, when Jeff Gordon beat Dale Earnhardt by 1.73 seconds to win the Tyson Holly Farms 400.
“Last year’s race definitely had a totally different vibe just from the atmosphere and just how excited everybody was,” Briscoe said. “It honestly reminded me a lot of the Chili Bowl, just like how on Saturday night where fans of the Chili Bowl wait all year for that one race, that one night.
“North Wilkesboro had been waiting on that since 1996 and it was just a very similar vibe. Everybody was fired up to be there. It’s a hard ticket to get and they were all super rowdy, and it just reminded me a lot of the Chili Bowl on Saturday night. That atmosphere and that intensity is hard to come by, and the All-Star Race certainly brought that.”
The All-Star Open begins at 5:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday with the All-Star Race going green at 8 p.m. FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will broadcast both races live.
