Joey Logano went hunting for points in NASCAR’s first points race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 30 years and is heading home with plenty of them.
The Team Penske driver entered the Window World 450 below the cutline for The Chase postseason, by picked up 73 points to vault above it into 15th with his first win since last season’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Logano led a career-high 323 laps, finished third in stage one and won stage two on the way to victory lane.
“I knew coming into this weekend, we’ve got to capitalize on the points. A win was great, but we really need the points. Really capitalized on those tonight,” Logano said after doing a victory burnout around the entire track, stopping midway to pick up his son Hudson to come along for the ride.
Denny Hamlin hounded Logano during the final stage, but couldn’t find a way to close the one second gap that separated them most of the way. Despite their history of animosity on short tracks, Hamlin shook Logano’s hand after the race and offered words of admiration for his performance.
“You just have to compliment them on a great day and a great drive,” Hamlin said. “They were really good. There were a lot of times that I felt like my car was really close to where it needed to be; it was just a smidge off.”
Logano and Hamlin were followed by Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe and road course ace Shane van Gisbergen, who scored his second fifth-place finish on an oval this season to help secure his spot in The Chase standings in fourteenth.
Along with the points, Logano also took home one of NASCAR’s most unique trophies, a replica copper still made by Call Family Distillers that pays heritage to the sports moonshine-running past.
The race also set up the final for NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge, with Todd Gilliland and Christopher Bell won their matchups with Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney and will go head-to-head at the Brickyard 400 on July 26 for the winner-take-all $1 million prize.
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