Who… should you be talking about after the race?
For most of the night at North Wilkesboro Speedway, it looked like Joey Logano was going to go back-to-back in All-Star races. Logano led 139 of the 250 laps and seemed to be able to retake the lead with ease, even if another driver got to the point.
But thanks to a new addition to the All-Star race, a promoter’s choice caution, Logano had to contend with a restart inside 25 laps to go. When Logano stayed on track, most of the field opted to pit for their last set of fresh tires.
Christopher Bell led the field off of pit road and lined up sixth, behind Logano and others who had gambled on track position over fresh rubber.
Bell dispatched a couple of the gamblers, including Logano’s teammate Ryan Blaney, and waged a battle with Ross Chastain before setting sail for Logano.
Logano hung tough and Bell tried the inside, then the outside, and dropped back for a couple of laps to cool his tires before finally managing to clear Logano.
It’s Bell’s first All-Star win in five tries. His No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota showed the marks of a short-track duel, appropriate for a win that did not come easily.
And also…
Before the All-Star race, the drivers not in the field took to the track for a last chance to make the main event, with the top two transferring, along with fan vote winner Noah Gragson.
Open winner Carson Hocevar traded some paint with teammate Michael McDowell early on, and when his team got him off pit road first on the mid-race caution, he held on to win.
Behind Hocevar, it was an absolute free-for-all. Ryan Preece had the fastest car, but he drew a penalty for running over the choose marker before the restart.
Drivers raced three and four wide for position, but in the end, the second driver to take a spot in the All-Star race was John Hunter Nemechek after a determined drive through the field in the closing laps. It nearly came down to Nemechek and teammate Erik Jones for the last spot, but Jones brushed the wall and was nipped for third by Ty Dillon. Nemechek’s drive to the transfer spot was fearless and precise. His unexpected drive to the top two was impressive.
What… did we learn from the Open?
The bottom line: the car is the biggest problem on most of the short tracks, and the longer the races are, the more apparent that becomes. NASCAR isn’t going to change the car or add horsepower anytime soon, so … is it time to change the approach to short-track race weekends?
What that might look like is a much longer discussion, but whether it’s a smaller field (short track races used to start 32 cars), shorter races (maybe a doubleheader?), or something else, the Open showed that the racing can be better — and the All-Star Race upheld that. Desperation makes for good racing.
Where… did he come from?
After an early incident, Chastain didn’t look like he was in the running for a great finish on Sunday night despite a solid third-place start.
But as fireworks lit up the night as the promoter’s caution waved, Chastain and his No. 1 team had no choice but to stay out on track while most of the field pitted for tires. A handful of others did the same, including Logano, but Chastain had no fresh tires to gamble with and couldn’t have come in if he’d wanted to.
Chastain’s aggressive style served him well on the final run. He was able to hang with Logano and hold off all of the drivers with fresh tires not named Bell. Chastain finished third, almost certainly better than if he had pitted with the field.
When… was the moment of truth?
It’s hard to say if Bell got lucky or Logano got unlucky, but the final caution is what set up the battle for the million dollars. When the promoter’s caution flew with 25 to go (which might as well just have been advertised because you know it wasn’t coming out sooner than it had to), Logano stayed out despite new tires being an advantage. He was gambling on a few more cars near the back staying out than the ones that did.
Bell got two fresh Goodyears on the right side and got off pit road first, and then he was able to pass the four drivers on old tires. But it wasn’t easy, and if two or three more had gambled on track position, Bell might not have been able to pass Logano.
The close battle at the end has a lot of people chomping at the bit for a points race at North Wilkesboro, and the track deserves consideration based on its history alone, but this could be a case of be careful what you wish for.
A points race would completely change the way teams and drivers approach the race. The full-race aggression would probably disappear through most of the field. They’re more willing to settle for third when it’s only one point less than second and a crash trying for more would take so many away.
Maybe for now North Wilkesboro is better off hosting one night a year of down and dirty, checkers-or-wreckers old-school racing.
Why… should you be paying attention this week?
This week’s action is just a few miles down the road from North Wilkesboro, but it might as well be another universe.
The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway wraps up the greatest day of motorsports and, for the Cup teams, the first half of the regular season, and that means a different approach to summer for some teams. Teams not in the playoffs, on the bubble, or struggling will search for the missing piece. The ones already in or with a solid points position will start trying some things for their playoff runs, which can mean a short-term loss in exchange for long-term gain in the playoffs.
As for the 600, there hasn’t been a dominant driver at Charlotte in recent years. The winningest active driver is Brad Keselowski with a pair of victories. Tyler Reddick has been outstanding at CMS with five top 10s in six Cup starts on the oval.
Some other drivers to watch? Keep an eye on the veterans who know how to race the track for 600 long miles: Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.
How… did this race stack up?
As hard as it was to pass, the racing was pretty stout. There were two racing grooves and drivers could work them and each other using them. It was still too clean-air dependent up front, but the racing overall was good.
As cool as it was to race one last time on the same pavement that the Cup Series ran on for their last visit in 1996, the 2024 repave is already showing that it is going to produce some solid racing as it ages.
If NASCAR is able to find a way to improve short-track racing as a whole, then North Wilkesboro will certainly deserve a points race of its own, which could put the All-Star event on the move again down the road. Where should it go?
Right back to Charlotte.
The racing at CMS has been good in the Next Gen era, and keeping the fun atmosphere of the All-Star race at home where the teams and their families can enjoy it just makes sense.
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.