Polesitter Joey Logano dominated by putting his No. 22 Ford out front for 199 of 200 laps to snare a $1 million purse on Sunday night, winning the NASCAR Cup Series’ prized All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, N.C.
Without another set of soft tires, Logano stayed out when NASCAR threw its final planned caution with 50 laps left, while many in the field took on new rubber.
The 2016 All-Star Race winner then stayed ahead of Denny Hamlin to win the non-points race by 0.636 seconds.
Chris Buescher, who was involved in two dramatic endings over the past two weeks, came in third.
Following a day of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, defending All-Star Race winner Kyle Larson arrived at the speedway by helicopter about 90 minutes before the green flag. He came home fourth, while Ryan Blaney finished fifth.
In its second consecutive appearance at the 0.625-mile short track, the 40th annual All-Star Race weekend had its two heat races washed out. The field was then set by NASCAR’s rule book, except for Team Penske’s Logano, who won the top spot in Saturday’s qualifying session.
On Sunday, after Kyle Busch was squeezed into the wall with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. just ahead of him, Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet caught Stenhouse’s No. 47 and turned it into the Turn 2 wall on Lap 2 for the first caution.
An angry Stenhouse then parked his damaged Chevrolet in Busch’s pits and confronted crew chief Randall Burnett.
After the race, Stenhouse briefly fought with Busch near the No. 8 team’s hauler.
Logano, Buescher, Blaney and Brad Keselowski — all drivers who stayed out on the soft tires after the Stenhouse caution — paced the field through 50 laps.
Logano’s Ford stayed out front, but Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota fought door-to-door with Logano for 25 laps to stay on the lead, and it did when the second yellow flag, a scheduled one, waved at the halfway point for mandatory pit stops.
With the five cars on soft tires running equal or better times compared to everyone else, teams opted for the softer tires during the stop, just like they did to start the 200-lap race.
Logano and Christopher Bell ran side-by-side with 92 laps to go, but Hamlin slipped into the mix and gained second behind Logano. All-Star Open winner Ty Gibbs then spun for the third caution on Lap 119 after Busch tapped him.
–Field Level Media
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