Keselowski, Bell Earn Heat Race Wins Ahead of NASCAR All-Star Race

Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell dominated their respective heat races on Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway, continuing strong weekends for both drivers.

Both Keselowski and Bell won from the pole in their respective heat races, leading the lion's share of Saturday's heat races for the pair of wins.

Race Results: 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race Heat Races

The 2025 season has been a struggle for the former NASCAR Cup Series champion, but Keselowski hopes to turn things around starting with this weekend. With a pole run in qualifying on Friday and the heat race win on Saturday, momentum is on the Rochester Hills, Michigan driver's side going into Sunday's All-Star Race.

"It's been a good two days for everyone on this 6 crew," said Keselowski. "I'm hopeful that the other two cars can have good runs in the heat race and the Open, so we can get a great day for tomorrow. It's good to be starting up front with the Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang and to be running fast. This is fun."

A caution just before halfway in the first heat gave some teams an opportunity to change tires and charge through the field. Keselowski had to hold off the likes of Ross Chastain and William Byron after that, learning how valuable fresh tires might be in Sunday's All-Star Race.

"Those guys that put tires on, they were really hard to hold off," said Keselowski. "I had the preferred groove and just tried to use it to my advantage. We'll see if that's the case tomorrow."

Starting Lineup: 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro

Christopher Bell also won from the pole in the second heat race, which indicates track position could be vital in Sunday's All-Star Race. However, there should be a variety of strategies over 250 laps to shake things up.

"Yeah, it seems like [track position] is really important. We have a really, really good Mobil 1 Camry, and it's about as good as I could ask for right now," said Bell. "It's handling really well, and seems like it's really fast.

"Got the track position to start. There's going to be a lot of flipping track position throughout the course of the day tomorrow, and I would be really surprised if someone is able to just stay up front and lead the race."

Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet did not participate in the All-Star Heat Race, as Larson was back in Indianapolis qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. Larson will return to North Wilkesboro on Sunday and start 19th in the NASCAR All-Star Race.

Before Sunday's All-Star Race, the 100-lap All-Star Open will complete the field for the main event. The top two finishers in the Open will transfer to the All-Star Race, as well as the Fan Vote Winner.

The All-Star Open takes the green flag at 5:30 p.m. ET, with the All-Star Race scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET. Coverage will be available on FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-Photo credit: Rusty Jarrett, NKP for Ford Performance