NASCAR Cup Series cars officially hit North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time since the checkered flag fell over Jeff Gordon in September 1996, as a combined practice for the NASCAR All-Star Race and All-Star Open took place on Friday afternoon.
Former series champion Kyle Larson was the fastest in the session, with his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet posting a fast lap of 20.615 at the 0.625-mile speedway. Brad Keselowski was second-fastest in the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford with a lap of 20.755. Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was third-fastest with a quick time of 20.794.
Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Martin Truex Jr., William Byron, Kevin Harvick, Chandler Smith and Ryan Preece rounded out the remainder of the top 10.
The practice session was slowed by one incident when Daniel Suarez spun his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet in Turn 4. There was no damage to the car and Suarez ended the session 32nd on the leaderboard.
| POS. | NO. | NAME | BEST | TIME BEHIND |
| 1. | 5 | Kyle Larson | 20.615 | -- |
| 2. | 6 | Brad Keselowski | 20.755 | 0.14 |
| 3. | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 20.794 | 0.179 |
| 4. | 17 | Chris Buescher | 20.821 | 0.206 |
| 5. | 14 | Chase Briscoe | 20.840 | 0.225 |
| 6. | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | 20.841 | 0.226 |
| 7. | 24 | William Byron | 20.866 | 0.251 |
| 8. | 29 | Kevin Harvick | 20.874 | 0.259 |
| 9. | 13 | Chandler Smith | 20.889 | 0.274 |
| 10. | 41 | Ryan Preece | 20.898 | 0.283 |
| 11. | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | 20.917 | 0.302 |
| 12. | 22 | Joey Logano | 20.948 | 0.333 |
| 13. | 54 | Ty Gibbs | 20.948 | 0.333 |
| 14. | 20 | Christopher Bell | 20.967 | 0.352 |
| 15. | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 20.974 | 0.359 |
| 16. | 1 | Ross Chastain | 21.017 | 0.402 |
| 17. | 42 | Noah Gragson | 21.018 | 0.403 |
| 18. | 34 | Michael McDowell | 21.051 | 0.436 |
| 19. | 3 | Austin Dillon | 21.061 | 0.446 |
| 20. | 38 | Todd Gillilan | 21.065 | 0.450 |
| 21. | 9 | Chase Elliott | 21.071 | 0.456 |
| 22. | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 21.082 | 0.467 |
| 23. | 2 | Austin Cindric | 21.084 | 0.469 |
| 24. | 10 | Aric Almirola | 21.103 | 0.488 |
| 25. | 8 | Kyle Busch | 21.144 | 0.529 |
| 26. | 12 | Ryan Blaney | 21.167 | 0.552 |
| 27. | 48 | Josh Berry | 21.203 | 0.588 |
| 28. | 21 | Harrison Burton | 21.207 | 0.592 |
| 29. | 51 | Ryan Newman | 21.219 | 0.604 |
| 30. | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 21.237 | 0.622 |
| 31. | 31 | Justin Haley | 21.288 | 0.673 |
| 32. | 99 | Daniel Suarez | 21.295 | 0.680 |
| 33. | 77 | Ty Dillon | 21.463 | 0.848 |
| 34. | 43 | Erik Jones | 21.516 | 0.901 |
| 35. | 7 | Corey LaJoie | 21.562 | 0.948 |
| 36. | 15 | JJ Yeley | 21.685 | 0.948 |
| 37. | 78 | Josh Bilicki | 21.749 | 1.134 |
Photo courtesy Will Bellamy, Racing America
