That’s what everyone expects of a million dollar-to-win race right?
Paul Wolfe made a bold strategic decision, one that didn’t pan out for Joey Logano and their No. 22 Penske team. Logano and spotter Coleman Pressley made some bold defensive moves in the hopes that it would keep Christopher Bell behind them. Bell wasn’t going to waste any time with Logano once the rules of engagement had been established.
All told, everyone performed to the moment and North Wilkesboro Speedway largely delivered its first truly memorable on-track sequence in its third year hosting the NASCAR All-Star Race.
In the end, Bell scored a signature career victory on a night where Wilkesboro also seemingly secured its place in the future of the sport for many more years to come.
“North Wilkesboro, how about that one,” Bell said upon climbing out of his car on the frontstretch. “That right there is absolutely incredible. North Wilkesboro — best short track on the schedule!”
First, the numbers supported the eye test after the race, in all the metrics that the industry frequently uses:
There were 59 green flag passes for the lead, which set a new All-Star Race record, across each of its venues. The 18 lead changes at the start-finish line were the most in event history. With 1,426 green flag passes, this All-Star Race was the second-best in that category behind the 2018 event. There were also eight different leaders, tied for the second most, one behind the 2002 running.
There was some good ole fashioned short track animosity after the race too.
Logano felt like Bell unnecessarily used him up the racetrack to complete the winning pass. Bell’s momentum carried them both up the track and towards the wall.
“It is what it is, I don’t know,” Logano said. “He did it good enough that I couldn’t get back to him. I was going to show him what fair was but I just couldn’t get there. I just couldn’t get there with the tires.”
And then, a little bit later in the same post-race scrum:
“I’ll just race him the same way,” Logano said. “That’s all it is. Listen, we were racing for a million dollars so I get it but we race each other every week and we’re like elephants and we never forget.
Bell could only chuckle when this was brought to his attention.
“He was frustrated,” Bell asked. “That is interesting. I genuinely would not have guessed that.”
So then what Logano said was explained to him.
“Well, I had got to him a couple times before and he made it very difficult on me, as he should,” Logano said. “I got my run, and I took the moment, as I should. So yeah, I don’t think that I did anything that Joey has not done, and I’ve seen Joey do much worse. We will continue on.”
But again, Logano was only in this position because Wolfe, his crew chief, left him out on old tires with the hopes enough teams would follow suit to create a buffer to Bell.
“There was a buffer there with (Ryan) Blaney and he never raced him,” Wolfe said. “So we had the buffer but no one raced him the way we needed. The tires had that 10-15 lap life on them and then they leveled out.
“But no one was able to hold him off long enough to give us that chance and he was just all over us. Joey drove his butt off. And he ultimately used us up to get by us but it’s the All-Star Race and it’s for a million bucks.
“I would expect it. But yeah, it’s tough.”
Before even starting this interview, Wolfe was hunched over pit road, right foot on the wall, no doubt second guessing to a degree.
It really was a last-minute decision because rounding Turns 3 and 4, Wolfe made the call in real time. This was the exchange:
“Do you feel good about keeping it with clean air?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stay out “
Logano didn’t even have a chance to rebut, and to be fair, it’s the crew chief that won him his third championship last year.
“Yeah, I said I don’t know because I didn’t know,” Logano said. “If eight cars stay out, yeah, it looks good because he doesn’t get to us. If he gets held up by a couple of cars before that, do we get him? Maybe.
“The 1 (Ross Chastain) kind of just let him go and I think I know what he was doing. He was hoping he would get to me then we would rough it up and he could sneak one by us. That was the right call but I needed Ross to do Ross things. But he just let him go.”
But in the end, Bell had a tire advantage and once he got clean air, that was that. Bell now adds the All-Star Race to a growing resume and this is amongst his favorite victories.
“It’s pretty high,” Bell said. “I would say this one has to be up there with those Round of 8 wins. Those Round of 8 wins are so valuable that I don’t know how you top that except for that championship event which is eluding me so far.
“But this one, it’s definitely top three.”
