Joey Logano wins the first points-paying race of the season at Wilkesboro
- TSN MOTORSPORTS INSIDER
- Jul 20
- 2 min read
Sunday night with a dominant victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the first points race at the 0.625-mile track in 30 years.
After Logano wrapped up a lengthy on-track burnout, Denny Hamlin approached him and dabbed him up out of respect. Hamlin spent the second part of the race doing everything he could to catch Logano, but it proved fruitless.
The No. 22 Ford was too dominant. Logano led 323 of 450 laps.
“It’s wildly, wildly impressive what he did,” Hamlin said. “I thought it was a really impressive drive from him, how he maneuvered through (lapped) traffic and did everything we know Joey to do.”
It was Logano’s 38th career Cup win, and his first since May 2025 at Texas.
The 36-year-old Logano also extended his streak of winning at least one race to 15 consecutive seasons, the longest among active drivers. The late Kyle Busch holds the record, winning in 19 straight seasons (2005-2023).
“A win anywhere at this point would have sounded great, but coming here and doing it at North Wilkesboro is awesome,” Logano said.
Hamlin finished second, followed by Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and 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. He’s now inside the cutline in 15th place.
“I feel like I know exactly what I need to go fast around this place,” said Logano, who won the 2024 All-Star race here in dominant fashion. “I knew coming this weekend that we’ve got to capitalize on the points.”
The 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.
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