Joey Logano Thumps Field For Emphatic North Wilkesboro Win

N. Wilkesboro, N.C. -- Joey Logano, in the first NASCAR Cup Series points-paying race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 30 years, turned in a dominant ass-kicking that would have made the legends of yesteryear very proud.

Logano led 323 laps in the 450-lap contest around the 0.625-mile short track, and despite a slight challenge from Denny Hamlin on the final run of the race, thanks to Riley Herbst holding Logano up, nobody could do anything to prevent the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse for pulling through for the victory.

In the end, Logano would cross the finish line ahead of Hamlin by a margin of 0.859 seconds, a victory margin not indicative of how dominant Logano was on the evening. However, just six cars ended the race on the lead lap, which was a perfect representation of the old-school whooping that Logano put on the field.

The win was Logano's first victory of the 2026 season, a season that until Sunday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway, had been frustration-filled for Logano.

"What a great car. Paul Wolfe, what a great car he put together for us today. Just was able to execute a smooth pace," Logano said. "Everyone on pit road did a good job. Engine and Roush Yates was good. It's good to get back into victory lane. It's been a tough year. So getting the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang doing some big, smoky doughnuts around this place felt really good."

Logano, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, is now up to 38 career victories in NASCAR's top division.

With the stellar performance on Sunday night, Logano gained 73 championship points for his efforts, which vaulted him from outside of the top-16 of the regular-season championship standings to 15th, and he now sits comfortably ahead of Erik Jones, the first driver outside of the Chase cutline by 49 points.

Hamlin, who gave it everything he had, but ultimately, he was unable to overcome Logano's pure speed in the closing laps of the race.

"Yeah, you just got to compliment [Logano] on a great day, a great drive," Hamlin said. "They were really good. There was a lot of time where it felt like my car was kind of close where it needed to be. Just a smidge off. It was a great battle. At least could keep him honest there."

Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs ended the race in third and fourth positions, which allowed Joe Gibbs Racing to close out a sweep of positions 2 through 4 in the final running order in the Window World 450.

Crossing the finish line with an impressive fifth-place finish was Shane van Gisbergen, a driver known more for his road course racing prowess than short track race craft. But on a warm weekend in Wilkes County, van Gisbergen walked away with a pair of top-five finishes, as he also finished third in Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event.

Bubba Wallace, in sixth, was the final driver, who finished on the lead lap on Sunday night.

Brad Keselowski, Todd Gilliland, Daniel Suarez, and Ryan Preece rounded out the top-10 finishers in the race.

For Gilliland, the eighth-place finish was enough to advance him into the final round of NASCAR's In-Season Challenge, as Chase Elliott, the driver he was matched up against, finished 17th. Gilliland will square off against Ryan Blaney next weekend in the Brickyard 400, where the higher finishing of the two drivers will capture a $1-million bonus.

Blaney finished 11th at North Wilkesboro, which allowed him to knock off Christopher Bell, who finished 19th.

Add us as a preferred source on Google