NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Joey Logano had a gleam in his eye and a lilt in his voice as he readied to climb into the No. 22 Team Penske Ford for the start of Sunday night‘s Window World 450.
“I think we have a fast car,” Logano opined optimistically before taking the green flag in the first NASCAR Cup Series points race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 30 years.
Logano was right, but his assessment turned out to be a massive understatement. After leading a single-race career-best 323 laps, Logano crossed the finished line 0.859 seconds ahead of series leader Denny Hamlin to win for the first time since May 2025 when he triumphed at Texas Motor Speedway.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos
The victory was Logano‘s first in a points race at the 0.625 short track, though he also won the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race at revitalized North Wilkesboro. In front of an enthusiastic sell-out crowd, Logano recorded the 38th Cup victory of his career, 23rd-most all-time.
“It’s good to get back into Victory Lane,” Logano said. “It’s been a tough year. So getting the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang doing some big, smoky doughnuts around this place felt really good.”
The victory was a distinct bright spot in a troublesome season for the three-time Cup Series champion, who vaulted from 17th to 15th in the series standings, 49 points clear of the current cutline for the postseason Chase.
“(Crew chief) Paul (Wolfe) put together a good car,” Logano said. “I think I know exactly what I need to go fast around this place. He’s able to give it to me.
“I knew coming into this weekend, we‘ve got to capitalize on the points. A win was great, but we really need the points. Really capitalized on those tonight.”
Hamlin was able to stay close to Logano in the final stage, but the race winner worked traffic adroitly and never gave Hamlin a chance to close within striking distance.
The critical juncture came during a green-flag pit stop cycle in the final stage, with Hamlin steering his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to pit road on Lap 359 of 450. Logano followed a lap later and exited the pits roughly a half-second ahead of Hamlin.
That pit cycle proved decisive.
“Yeah, the pressure was there, for sure,” Logano said. “Denny got really good there the last run. Honestly, it was whoever was out front was going to win the race.
“We were pretty dominant. But as the race went along, Denny got better at the last run. Just did a decent job keeping up with the track. They did a good job keeping up.”
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Though his extended pursuit of Logano proved fruitless, Hamlin expanded his series lead over second-place Tyler Reddick to 68 points, with five races left before The Chase field is set.
“You just have to compliment them on a great day and a great drive,” Hamlin said of Logano‘s effort. “They were really good. There were a lot of times that I felt like my car was really close to where it needed to be; it was just a smidge off.
“Great battle. At least I was able to keep them honest there, but he had a lot of speed and never gave up on the short run or the long run, so great job to our whole Progressive Toyota team for keeping us in the ballgame, but we will have to go regroup.”
Chase Briscoe ran third and Ty Gibbs fourth, despite an early pit road speeding penalty. Shane van Gisbergen, who maintained a presence in the top 10 for the entire race and led 49 laps (second most to Logano), placed fifth and climbed one position to 14th in the standings, 54 points above the current Chase cutoff.
In the semifinal of the NASCAR Cup Series In-Season Challenge, Todd Gilliland continued his unlikely march to the winner-take-all $1-million payday with an eighth-place finish to Chase Elliott‘s 17th.
Elliott was buried two laps down when caution for a collision between the Chevrolet of Alex Bowman and the Toyota of Reddick — as Bowman turned across traffic trying to enter pit road on Lap 183 — interrupted a cycle of green-flag stops.
Elliott finished three laps down after a late pit stop.
Ryan Blaney, who finished 11th, two laps down, after a speeding penalty, ousted Christopher Bell from the In-Season Challenge. Like Elliott, Bell was a victim of the Lap 183 caution after pitting early in the cycle. He finished 19th, three laps down.
Blaney will face Gilliland for the In-Season title in next Sunday‘s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The race featured five cautions for 43 laps, with the final stage running caution-free for 175 green-flag laps. There were 17 lead changes among nine drivers, the majority coming during green-flag pit cycles.
Gibbs won the first stage before drawing his speeding penalty, with Logano exerting his dominance in winning Stage 2.
Sixth-place Bubba Wallace was the last driver to finish on the lead lap. Brad Keselowski, Gilliland, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Preece — all one lap down — completed the top 10.
Stage 2 recap
Joey Logano scored the Stage 2 victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
Denny Hamlin was second ahead of Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace and Shane van Gisbergen, who nabbed points in both stages Sunday night. Carson Hocevar, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Todd Gilliland and Daniel Suárez concluded the top 10.
Two mid-stage incidents shook up the running order and trapped multiple contenders one lap down.
A Lap 183 caution altered the event when Alex Bowman dove across Tyler Reddick’s nose exiting Turn 2, sending both cars into a spin. Bowman was attempting to pit but was running in the outermost lane with Reddick to his left. The incident occurred in the midst of green-flag pit stops, trapping multiple drivers like Chase Elliott, William Byron, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell two laps down at the time of caution before taking advantage of the wave-around rule, earning one lap back.
At the time of the Lap 193 restart, just 15 cars remained on the lead lap.
Shortly thereafter, Bell got loose entering Turn 3 while racing with Josh Berry, sliding high into Berry’s left rear. Berry spun and smacked the SAFER barrier in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 199, breaking left-side suspension parts that sent the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford to the garage for repairs.
MORE: Stage 2 results | Watch Logano seize Stage 2 victory
Logano has led over 160 laps, his most since the 2022 season finale in which he won the Cup Series championship. Among the drivers who were trapped one lap down were Hendrick Motorsports teammates Elliott, Kyle Larson and Byron as well as Reddick and Bell.
Stage 1 recap
Ty Gibbs eked out a Stage 1 victory over Shane van Gisbergen in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Carson Hocevar completed the top five after 80 laps at the historic 0.625-mile short track. Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and William Byron rounded out the top 10.
RELATED: Stage 1 results | Watch Gibbs clinch Stage 1 win
The yellow flag waved for the first time on Lap 40 when contact between Zane Smith and John Hunter Nemechek sent Nemechek for a spin through Turn 2. Hamlin was the only driver who stayed out under that caution period midway through the first stage. Kyle Larson and Connor Zilisch made contact on pit road, however, during those stops on Lap 45. Larson was leaving his stall after a two-tire stop and exited just in front of Zilisch, whose left-front fender slammed Larson’s right-front wheel. Both continued without apparent issue, but Larson only mustered a 34th-place finish at the conclusion of Stage 1.
Ross Chastain started from the rear due to multiple inspection failures on Saturday and had to serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the race, losing a lap early. However, the Trackhouse Racing driver received the free pass when the yellow waved to end Stage 1 and started Stage 2 back on the lead lap.
Gibbs won the race off pit road during the stage break but incurred a penalty for speeding on pit road, sending him to the rear of the field for the restart to start Stage 2.
Contributing: Staff report
Note: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Logano as the race winner. No cars were taken back to NASCAR’s R&D Center.