NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (AP) — Joey Logano held off Denny Hamlin for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season Sunday night in the first points race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 30 years.
Logano won for the 38th time in Cup, ending a drought that went back to May 2025 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The 36-year-old Logano extended his streak of winning at least one race to 15 consecutive seasons, the longest streak among active drivers. The late
Kyle Busch holds the record, winning in 19 straight seasons (2005-2023).
Hamlin finished second, followed by Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and Shane Shane Van Gisbergen.
It was a huge win for Logano, who entered the race outside of the top 16 in the Chase for the playoffs.
Logano took the lead in Stage 2 and dominated the remainder of the race, leading 323 of 450 laps in a race that featured just five cautions.
The 0.625-mile track, built in 1947, sat mostly dormant for a quarter of a century following its last points race in on Sept. 29, 1996.
Speedway Motorsports undertook the monumental task of refurbishing it, including clearing the weeds and trees growing up through the middle of the racetrack. NWS hosted the All-Star race from 2023-25.
Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilliland have reached the finals of the $1 million NASCAR In-Season Challenge. Blaney defeated Christopher Bell head-to-head in the semifinals on Sunday night, while Gilliland topped Chase Elliott.
The champion will be decided next Sunday in Indianapolis at the Brickyard 400 with the driver finishing higher in the race awarded the $1 million prize.
Tyler Reddick got caught up a wreck on lap 184 when Alex Bowman cut him off as he was attempting to go from the top row down into pit row, spinning out the No. 45.
Bowman told his crew chief, “I thought I had hole but maybe I didn’t.”
Ryan Blaney, who won last week at Atlanta, was set to start on the pole based on metrics after qualifying was rained out on Saturday. Instead, he was forced to start the race at the rear of the field after his No. 12 Ford Mustang had a power steering pump issue.
Things only got worst for the 2023 Cup Series champion after he received a speeding penalty on pit row on lap 365, dropping him out of the top five and costing him 15 positions.
The Cup Series heads to Indianapolis next week for the Brickyard 400. Bubba Wallace captured his first crown jewel event last year after Austin Cindric blew a tire.
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