Four drivers, four different organizations advance to the NASCAR All-Star Race
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — The NASCAR All-Star Open was filled with parity Sunday as four drivers from four different organizations advanced to the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway.
JTG-Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Roush-Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher won the Open’s first two stages while Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez won the overall race and Petty-GMS Racing’s Erik Jones won the fan vote.
Stenhouse started on the front row and quickly took the lead in the first stage en route to making his fourth NASCAR All-Star Race appearance. He previously appeared in the race’s 2013, 2017 and 2018 editions.
JTG-Daugherty Racing’s last appearance in the NASCAR All-Star Race was in 2018 with A.J. Allmendinger, who finished eighth after winning the Open.
Former JTG-Daugherty Racing driver Chris Buescher benefited from Corey LaJoie moving Daniel Suarez up the track late in stage two. Buescher held off Suarez and earned his first All-Star Race appearance since 2017 when he made his All-Star Race debut.
Suarez restarted on the front row for the final 10-lap stage and quickly took the lead from fellow favorite Tyler Reddick, who restarted alongside him. Reddick mounted a charge but wrecked with eight to go, which set up a restart where Suarez held off Austin Dillon and others to scoot away for the win.
Suarez has made two previous All-Star Race appearances, in 2017 and 2018.
Trackhouse Racing and RFK Racing, in their current iteration, will each be making their NASCAR All-Star Race debut, with their two cars. Buescher joins RFK teammate Brad Keselowski – and Suarez joins Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain – in the race.
Erik Jones won the fan vote and gave Petty-GMS, in their current iteration, their first All-Star Race appearance. Jones previously appeared in the All-Star Race in 2019 and 2020.
Stenhouse, Buescher, Suarez and Jones will line up 20th through 24th for the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway (~8:13 p.m. Green flag; TV: FS1; Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com