For his first act as a NASCAR All-Star Race champion, Christopher Bell chose to praise the revitalized 78-year-old racetrack that delivered a memorable night of racing.
“Let’s go!” Bell shouted to roaring approval from a capacity crowd of 25,000 as he made the case Sunday night during his frontstretch celebration that North Wilkesboro Speedway was due a Cup Series points race.
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“The best short track in NASCAR,” Bell said. “It is absolutely incredible. It’s just going to get better and better. Man, that was an amazing race.”
In its third edition as host of the $1 million exhibition event, the speedway produced All-Star Race records for lead changes (18) and green-flag passes for the lead (59) as its remarkable rebirth continued from a dilapidated and rotting hulk just three years ago.
Speedway Motorsports announced that grandstand seating and premium hospitality were sold out for the 41st All-Star Race, which drew fans from 43 states and nine countries to North Wilkesboro, which is 80 miles north of Charlotte. SMI president and CEO Marcus Smith proclaimed that “like Lambeau Field to football and Fenway Park to baseball, North Wilkesboro Speedway has become America’s throwback racetrack.”
Bell was among several drivers who say the short track deserves its first Cup Series points race in 30 years when NASCAR releases its 2026 schedule, which is expected in a few months.
“I don’t see why not,” seven-time most popular driver winner Chase Elliott said about the possibility after finishing fifth. “I think it’s plenty capable of hosting, and obviously, the crowd seems extremely receptive to the idea, too. Whatever NASCAR decides on that, I’m good with. It put on a good race for sure, so it’s hard to argue against that.”
Aside from a smattering of minor-league races in 2010-11, North Wilkesboro Speedway had sat dormant since Jeff Gordon won its most recent Cup race on Sept. 29, 1996. A $20 million renovation ( spurred by federal funding from the American Rescue Plan ) began in 2022 and led to being awarded the 2023 All-Star Race.
Its first two All-Star Races were lackluster, but North Wilkesboro’s racing came to life Sunday. The 0.625-mile oval’s surface has widened into multiple lanes since a repaving last year, and Sunday’s race featured 1,426 green-flag passes that electrified the jammed grandstands.
“Man, they show up,” Bell said. “We go out for driver intros, and the place was packed. It’s just bumping. We need more events like this.”
Joe Gibbs, whose team scored its third All-Star Race victory with Bell joining previous winners Kyle Busch in 2015 and Denny Hamlin in 2017, credited Smith and support from the community for putting the track in line for points race consideration.
“I won’t be making that decision,” Gibbs said. “But I think the way this race turned out and the crowd and everything, that’ll have a lot to do with it.”
Budding rivalry
Already sour about a “Promoter’s Caution” that erased his late lead and left him vulnerable on older tires, runner-up Joey Logano took issue with Bell’s winning pass in the No. 20 Toyota. After the drivers made contact that squeezed his No. 22 Ford into the outside wall with nine laps remaining, Logano vowed retaliation if he’d been able to catch Bell.
“I did all I could do to hold him off, and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option,” said Logano, who led a race-high 139 of 250 laps. “If I could’ve got to him, he was going around after a move like that. I just couldn’t get back to him. Just frustrated after you lead so many laps, and the car is so fast, and you don’t win. It hurts quite a bit.”
Bell was bemused by Logano’s frustration.
“I had got to him a couple times before, and he made it very difficult on me, as he should,” Bell said. “I got my run, and I took the moment, as I should. 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.”
Notable
With top-five finishes by Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott, Chevrolet beat Ford and Toyota to win the All-Star Race’s first “Manufacturer’s Showdown” that was based on the combined results for each automaker. … Jon Edwards, the former PR rep for Kyle Larson who died last month, was honored with “The Byrnsie Award” that is voted on by Fox’s NASCAR broadcast team in tribute to late broadcaster Steve Byrnes. Fox has presented the award since 2016 to celebrate those who embody Byrnes’ principles of preparation, teamwork and family.
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