Hocevar and Nemechek Advance to the All-Star

(NORTH WILKESBORO, NC – MAY 18, 2025 – RIS) Carson Hocevar and John Hunter Nemechek raced into the top two finishing positions in the NASCAR All-Star Open to earn starting spots in the All-Star. Noah Gragson won the fan vote to gain the third transfer spot in the million-dollar exhibition race.

New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen asked his crew if he should slow down and save the car after leading from the green flag and building a big lead on the battle for second place. After 25 of the 100-lap race, his lead was about two and a half seconds over Carson Hocevar with Ryan Preece and Michael McDowell third and fourth. Zane Smith ran fifth another half second back from fourth.

The ’All-Star caution’ came out after 50 laps of green-flag racing with Van Gisbergen over four seconds ahead of Hocevar. He radioed to his crew that the lap times had fallen off more than he expected, then pitted for four tires, losing six positions in the pits to teams that only mounted right-side tires.

Hocevar led Ty Gibbs and Michael McDowell at the restart, while Van Gisbergen and Preece split around Zane Smith before Preece went on to chase down Gibbs and challenge for second place in the race before making an aggressive pass for the position.

Riley Herbst bounced off the first turn wall with 23 laps left in the race to bring out an incident-caused caution. The incident started with a bump from Michael McDowell for the position. The cars that pitted had to mount scuffed tires as the teams were allowed only two sets of tires for the entire event.

Ryan Preece got sent to the back for driving over the choose marker leading to the restart. John Hunter Nemechek got two tires in the caution and moved into a challenging position with Bubba Wallace for second place and the second assured transfer to the All-Star main event. Erik Jones moved into third place behind his teammate, with Ty Dillon and Zane Smith fourth and fifth. 

Hocevar held on to win the Open, followed into the All-Star by Nemechek for his second-place finish. Noah Gragson won the fan vote to be the third driver to transfer to the All-Star. 

Almost as soon as the race was finished, track maintenance was on the front straight repainting the choose marker after Preece’s comment that it was invisible from the cars.

Unofficial Results: NASCAR All-Star Open,  North Wilkesboro Speedway
Pos, Driver, Car, Gap, Laps, Last Lap, Best Time, Best Speed, Best Lap
 1) Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Gainbridge/WNBA All Star '25 Chevrolet, --, 100, 19.102 sec, 18.728 sec, 120.141 mph, 7
 2) John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Family Dollar Toyota, 0.697 sec, 100, 19.138, 18.713, 120.237, 9
 3) Ty Dillon, No. 10 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet, 1.293, 100, 19.076, 18.726, 120.154, 13
 4) Erik Jones, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota, 1.394, 100, 19.357, 18.729, 120.135, 85
 5) Michael McDowell, No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet, 2.010, 100, 19.105, 18.665, 120.546, 7
 6) Zane Smith, No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford, 2.047, 100, 19.183, 18.627, 120.792, 7
 7) AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet, 3.407, 100, 19.203, 18.771, 119.866, 14
 8) Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Logitech Toyota, 3.834, 100, 19.544, 18.721, 120.186, 11
 9) Cole Custer, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 3.944, 100, 19.517, 18.908, 118.997, 18
10) Riley Herbst, No. 35 Monster Energy Toyota, 4.167, 100, 19.551, 18.777, 119.827, 15
11) Ryan Preece, No. 60 Boston Common Golf Ford, 4.978, 100, 19.720, 18.636, 120.734, 8
12) Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Overplay Ford, 6.137, 100, 19.497, 18.878, 119.186, 19
13) Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, 6.202, 100, 19.406, 18.665, 120.546, 12
14) Justin Haley, No. 7 NationsGuard Chevrolet, 6.715, 100, 19.504, 18.702, 120.308, 7
15) Ty Gibbs, No. 54 SiriusXM Toyota, 7.050, 100, 19.817, 18.724, 120.167, 9
16) Cody Ware, No. 15 Schluter Systems Ford, 7.130, 100, 19.477, 18.898, 119.060, 12
17) Noah Gragson, No. 4 Rural King Ford, 7.415, 100, 18.847, 18.827, 119.509, 9
18) Chad Finchum, No. 66 AiresTech Ford, 13.133, 100, 20.075, 19.076, 117.949, 3

Time: 38:06
Avg Speed: 98.20 mph
Last Speed: 119.382 mph
Margin of Victory: 0.697 second

Leaders:
Driver, Car, Times, Laps
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Gainbridge/WNBA All Star '25 Chevrolet, 1, 46
Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, 1, 55

Lead Changes:
Car, Start, End, Total
No. 88, 0, 54, 55
No. 77, 55, 100, 46

Cautions:
#, Lap, Beneficiary, Reason
1, 50, 66, All-Star Caution
2, 77, 34, #35, 71 Incident Turn 3