Bubba Wallace tops the chart at NASCAR’s $1,000,000 event’s practice

Bubba Wallace led the field in practice for NASCAR’s All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway, setting the pace among the non-qualified drivers hoping to race their way into the $1 million All-Star main event. NASCAR.com shared the update through a post on X.

In the post, Wallace, driving the No. 23 Toyota for 23XI Racing, was confirmed as the fastest among all Open cars in the All-Star practice. This performance positioned him as a contender for advancing to the big-money All-Star Race later that night.

The post read:

“Racing into the main event is looking good. @BubbaWallace was the fastest Open car in practice.”

Tyler Reddick set the overall fastest lap in Friday’s (May 16) practice with a 123.640 mph run, clocking 18.198 seconds. Reddick, who also drives for 23XI Racing, completed 101 laps, just behind Joey Logano’s 110.

Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell (already locked into the All-Star Race) followed in the practice charts, with Bubba Wallace and Erik Jones rounding out the top five for the Open cars. Wallace’s practice time placed him third overall.

Despite his fast pace in practice, Bubba Wallace encountered trouble in qualifying. The 23XI Racing driver received a speeding penalty that cost him 10 seconds, dropping him to 14th place on the All-Star Open starting grid. This was a big blow, especially given that only two of the 18 drivers in the Open field will advance to the main event.

Shane van Gisbergen took pole position, followed by Carson Hocevar and Noah Gragson.

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“I think it’s even harder to do it part-time”: Bubba Wallace on 23XI’s fourth car entry at Kansas

Bubba Wallace has commented on 23XI Racing's decision to expand to a four-car team for the Kansas Speedway race, calling the move challenging due to the inconsistencies of part-time entries.

Wallace said fielding an additional car on a part-time basis makes operations harder because the team doesn’t have dedicated personnel for that vehicle. This leads to logistical and staffing difficulties, especially when preparing for competitive events.

Wallace shared his thoughts with Frontstretch, saying (12:00 onwards):

"That's all he's (Bootie Barker) been doing is prepping for this race. So I think it's ramped up this week for sure. I saw him at the airport this morning, and I was just questioning who the crew was that he had assembled for this car. I know it's hard to just run four cars full-time, but I think it's even harder to do it part-time because the personnel, the resources aren't fully there."

23XI Racing, co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, will run a fourth car — the #67 Toyota Camry — for development driver Corey Heim at Kansas. Heim usually competes in the Truck Series for Tricon Garage and will make his Cup Series appearance as part of this limited expansion.

Wallace, who pilots the #23 car full-time, is joined by teammates Tyler Reddick in the #45 and rookie Riley Herbst in the #35.