Joey Logano had one of the most dominant performances of his career and walked away with a huge payday.
The Team Penske driver led 199 of the 200 laps to win the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina on Sunday, earning $1 million for the victory.
It was a huge win for Logano, who dealt with some struggles over the season thus far.
Logano is in 17th place in the NASCAR standings with 292 points, well behind the leaders’ Kyle Larson (486 points), Martin Truex Jr. (456), and Danny Hamlin (447).
This season, Logano has been plagued by bad luck and finished 32nd at the Daytona 500. He also wrecked on the final lap of Stage 2 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and finished in 28th place.
That made Logano’s victory at the All-Star Race even more special.
“It’s been a while since we won a race,” Logano said. “I wish this one counted for points. But, a million bucks will work as well.”
The disappointment this season is an aberration for Logano, who is the 2018 and 2022 Cup Series champion as driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.
In June 2022, he won the Cup Series’ inaugural race at WWT Raceway. Logano also qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs in 2021 and picked up a victory in the Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track—the series’ first race on dirt since 1970.
Logano now has two All-Star Race victories to his resume, also winning the event in 2016. Logano is a 32-time Cup winner, including the 2015 Daytona 500, and earned the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award in 2009. Logano has 30 wins in the Xfinity Series and two in the Craftsman Truck Series.
At North Wilkesboro Speedway, Logano had the fastest qualifying time and earned the poll. He then drove roughshod over the other racers and set the record, leading by more laps than any driver has in the 40-year-old history of the race.
“It was awesome,” Logano said. “What a show. We were so fast. We came here before for testing and ran over 800 laps and really figured out what it was going to take to win the race. It’s like when the coach is making the team run the suicide drills and he keeps saying, ‘Again! Again! That was [crew chief] Paul Wolfe to me with the testing. I ran 800 laps. I was sore and I had enough.”
Hamlin finished second and Chris Buescher was third but neither driver threatened Logano.
Stenhouse Jr. collided with Busch in an attempt to create space for his team. Busch later retaliated and forced Stenhouse’s Chevrolet into the outside wall, which ended his day.
After the race, Stenhouse and Busch got into a brief fistfight that also involved crews from the two teams before it was broken up.
“I know he is frustrated because he doesn’t run as well as he used to,” Stenhouse said.
Point leader Larson finished fourth, but has four All-Star wins over his career—one shy of the record held by Jimmie Johnson.
Next weekend, Larson will make the rare attempt to finish the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It will be a rare feat for a racer.
“I’m excited for the challenge,” Larson said. “Challenges excite me so I am ready to go. You’re excited to learn something new too, or try to anyway with the Indie car. So, I am just happy to get back into the car.”
