Ty Gibbs Secures All-Star Open Pole with Assist from Mother Nature

Ty Gibbs will start the NASCAR All-Star Open Race from the pole position after qualifying for the session was halted by rain after the 17 of the 20 drivers had completed both of their allotted qualifying laps. However, before Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar, and Alex Bowman could do their re-run laps, rain fell, and washed out the rest of the session.

As a result, the field for the All-Star Open Race will be set by driver points, which puts Gibbs on the pole with Bowman set to lineup alongside in second.

Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, and Noah Gragson will round out the top-five starters for the Open Race.

Prior to the rain, Austin Dillon found himself in the top position on the speed charts. Due to the re-rack of the field, Dillon will now start back in 15th in the 20-car field.

Justin Haley, who was second before the rain came, will start 16th, and Ryan Preece, who was third will now start from the 12th position.

Gibbs Leads the Way in All-Star Practice

It was a good day for Gibbs as he also led the way in NASCAR All-Star Race and Open Race combined practice prior to qualifying.

Gibbs, who isn't locked into Sunday's All-Star Race and will attempt to advance from the Open, turned a fast lap time of 18.145 sec. (124.001 mph), which topped Ryan Blaney, who was second-fastest, by 0.031 sec. Blaney, the defending series champion, is locked into the field for Sunday's NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro.

Gibbs seemed very loose as he spent a good portion of the session joking with his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team on the radio while dialing in his Toyota Camry XSE.

Christopher Bell, Gibbs' teammate, clocked in third-fastest while Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top-five fastest in the practice session.

Photo Credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America