Chris Buescher was a dominant force in a dry and then wet NASCAR All-Star Race Heat 2 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Buescher led all 60 laps of the second Heat race from the pole, which he secured by way of his pit crew’s impeccable performance in Friday’s Pit Crew Challenge.
RELATED: NASCAR All-Star Heat Race 1 and 2 Results
With his win in Heat 2, Buescher will start Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Main Event from the second position, as he’ll start alongside Heat 1 race winner Daniel Suarez.
While Buescher was the lone leader in Heat 2, Austin Dillon emerged as the runner-up finisher after prevailing in a late-race battle with William Byron, last week’s NASCAR Cup Series race winner.
Brad Keselowski nudged his way past Bubba Wallace to score the fourth-place finish in Heat 2, and Wallace held on to finish fifth.
Martin Truex Jr. finished sixth and Kyle Busch, Truex’s former teammate, came home seventh in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Kyle Larson came home in eighth, after looking like he was heading toward a top-five finish in the Heat Race early. However, in a battle with Bubba Wallace past the mid-way point of the Heat, Larson caught the outside wall and faded nearly to the rear of the field.
Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick rounded out the finishers in Heat 2.
The second Heat race, unlike Heat 1, began with teams on slick tires, as the track surface was deemed dry enough for the usage of the slicks.
However, a few laps short of the half-way mark of the Heat, the rain started to fall around the 0.625-mile short track, and as a result, NASCAR called a caution for the teams to bolt on wet weather tires, which they finished the race on.
2023 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Heat Races and Open Race Results
