Christopher Bell, Joey Logano and North Wilkesboro Speedway delivered in the NASCAR All-Star Race on May 18.
Bell used fresher tires and some physical racing to get past Logano with 10 laps to go for the lead and pull away for his first career All-Star Race victory.
The two drivers had the best-handling race cars throughout the day, though Logano led the most laps.
But Bell had the strategy and timing on his side on Sunday during a race with 18 total lead changes over 250 laps.
Here are the winners and losers from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race.
Despite a NextGen race car that is not conducive to consistently good short-track racing, Sunday’s All-Star Race was an encouraging sign.
Yes, it was difficult to pass the leader. But it wasn’t impossible (there were 18 lead changes, after all), and cars were able to stay side-by-side for several laps while battling for the lead. And plenty of passing happened behind the leaders with multiple lanes as options.
By the end of the race, the bottom lane was able to be useful even if the top lane was often the best choice. And physical racing was possible and sometimes necessary, which fans will always like to see in doses.
Bring a full, 400-lap points race to North Wilkesboro, NASCAR.
Bell vs. Logano was destined to decide the All-Star Race winner, regardless of whatever caution NASCAR wanted to throw at a given time.
But the promoter’s caution on Lap 213 benefited Bell, because he was able to pit for fresh tires while Logano stayed out to keep the lead.
Bell restarted in the third row, dispatched of slower cars on older tires in a couple of laps, then hounded Logano for about 10 laps before using Logano up a bit off the corner to make the pass for the lead.
Bell has had a good first half of the 2025 season, including three points-racing victories.
In theory, the promoter’s caution was a way to avoid the last couple of seasons of ruthlessly dominant performances by Kyle Larson (2023) and Logano (2024) in this race at North Wilkesboro.
But Sunday’s race was not that. Instead of an increasingly interesting battle between Bell and Logano for the lead, plus a Kyle Larson toe-link issue, the promoter’s caution reset the field.
There was plenty of intrigue to be had, and the theoretical nature of the promoter’s caution was that it didn’t have to be used. But you can’t have the option of a caution in 2025 NASCAR and not throw it, right?
Instead, a Bell-Logano battle was wiped away for another restart, with Bell having the benefit of fresher tires via a pit stop while Logano stayed out to keep track position.
And after all that, we got the Bell-Logano battle anyway with a tire-aging difference playing a larger role.
At best, the promoter’s caution would feature a restart that could eventually produce another Bell-Logano battle for the win. That’s exactly what happened.
Keep the gimmicks in the box for next time, NASCAR. And keep the flags away from Michael Waltrip.
Most of the time, the All-Star Open provides some hurt feelings by drivers who believe they had a chance to earn their way into the All-Star Race.
Ryan Preece certainly qualifies after Sunday’s Open, when his race was virtually turned upside down via choose cone penalty. He cited a rubbered-in race track in making the choose cone marking more difficult to see, but the penalty dropped him from second to the back on the final restart. (The choose cone marking was re-painted before the All-Star Race.)
The No. 60 Ford was strong through the first 60 or so laps of the Open and could have pushed Carson Hocevar for the win. But Preece’s mistake forced that hypothetical to stay just that.
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