Joey Logano had a dominant car in the 2024 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, leading a record 199 of 200 laps and he cruised to victory. On Sunday, the No. 22 car was dominant once again and was leading late when the Promoter’s Caution came out on Lap 216.
During the break, Logano and his Penske teammate Ryan Blaney chose an alternate strategy from most of the lead cars, opting to stay out and not take new tires.
On the subsequent restart, the three-time champion surged past his teammate and reclaimed the lead, then began looking in his mirror at a fast-charging Christopher Bell, who had taken two right-side tires on the pit stop.
For almost 20 laps the Joe Gibbs Racing driver tried to make his way around Logano, moving up and down the multiple lanes in an attempt to pass on the 0.625-mile track. On Lap 241 after both cars passed the start-finish line, Bell dropped down low and got inside the Penske car, pushing him up the track going into Turn 1. He repeated the move going into Turn 3 and by the time the cars exited Turn 4, the No. 20 had finally taken the lead.
Bell held on for the remaining laps and won his first All-Star Race.
.@joeylogano was frustrated after the All-Star Race and admitted to plans of retaliation for @CBellRacing‘s late race-winning move at North Wilkesboro. pic.twitter.com/DbHf0dVMsM
— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) May 19, 2025
Moments after it was over, Logano spoke to FS1 about the race and noted that move in particular.
“I did all I could do to hold him off and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option,” Logano said. “Kind of just ran me up into the wall, and if I could’ve got to him, he was going around after a move like that. I just couldn’t get back to him. Just too much to try to make up with the tire deficit.”
Logano and Bell return to action next Sunday at Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600.
Related: Joey Logano Surprisingly Brings Up Firing at Joe Gibbs Racing During Champion’s Interview
Read the full article here
