Keselowski and RFK rebound from troubles with an All-Star pole at North Wilkesboro

Brad Keselowski and his RFK Racing team will start from the pole for their heat race and the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Keselowski and the No. 6 team topped the board Friday night in qualifying, which included the pit crew challenge. Their overall time was 77.264mph (87.363s).

“It’s pretty freaking cool, man,” Keselowski said. “To win the pole for the All-Star [Race] – I’ve never done that. It’s one of the things that I’ve never done in my career, and to do it by so much … a total team effort. The pit crew, Jeremy Bullins, and the team -- they gave me a rock-solid car and a rock-solid pit stop and said, ‘Here you go. Here’s the ball.’ I nailed the lap, and I’m just really proud and happy for everybody, particularly Solomon Plumbing.

“The founder, Danny, passed away a few weeks ago and his whole family is watching, and this is the first race with them back on the car with the ECU Pirates colors on it. We’re going to lead from the green. My first pole of the year, so it feels good.”

The qualifying session determined the lineup for the pair of heat races that will run Saturday night. Keselowski is the only driver with his starting position locked in for the main event.

RFK's No. 6 team was fastest over Christopher Bell (88.253s), Alex Bowman (88.361s), Chase Briscoe (88.649s) and William Byron (89.120s). The sixth fastest team and driver was Joey Logano (89.257s).

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Logano is the defending winner of the All-Star Race.

Austin Dillon and his team were seventh overall (89.619s) followed by Denny Hamlin (89.922s), Tyler Reddick (90.171s), Chase Elliott (90.451s), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (90.474s), Kyle Busch (91.224s), Josh Berry (91.241s) and Harrison Burton (94.433s).

Justin Allgaier and the No. 5 team (for Kyle Larson) were 15th fastest (94.950s) ahead of Chris Buescher (98.272s), Ross Chastain (98.886s), Austin Cindric (99.057s), Ryan Blaney (100.338s) and Daniel Suarez (106.931s).

Meanwhile, the Pit Crew Challenge $100,000 bonus went to Michael McDowell’s No. 71 team from Spire Motorsports. The group pulled off a 12.58s pit stop to win the competition. Daniel Suarez’s No. 99 team had the second-best pit stop time at 12.6s.

This year, the NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge presented by Mechanix Wear included teams from the Open and the All-Star Race. In the past, it had been exclusive to the teams locked into the All-Star Race.

McDowell and his team won the competition as an Open team.

Travis Peterson (crew chief) and Griffin Rider (car chief) lead McDowell’s operation. The over-the-wall team that pitted the car at North Wilkesboro was: Brandon Chapman (fueler), Dax Hollifeld (jackman), Max Marsh (front changer), Ty Boeck (rear changer) and Luke Bussel (tire carrier).

“This is awesome; this is definitely beyond my wildest dreams,” said Hollifeld as the team celebrated. “I was up at like [1 or 2 a.m. Monday] trying to figure out what I wanted for a setup. My man Travis and the [No.] 71 team got it for us. We’ve been working hard this year. We’re probably the youngest team on pit road, and it’s just hard work and determination. That’s the part today.”