NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — A little prep work paid off for Joey Logano.
Logano dominated the short track at North Wilkesboro Speedway leading all but one of 200 laps to win his second All-Star Race on Sunday night and earn $1 million.
Logano started on pole after posting the fastest time in Saturday qualifying and was never really challenged, setting a record by leading more laps than any driver in the race's 40-year history.
“We were very fast,” Logano said. “We came here earlier for testing, ran over 800 laps and really figured out what it took to win the race.”
Logano compared it to a scene from the movie “Miracle” about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team in which team manager Paul Wolfe made him run lap after lap until he was completely exhausted.
“It's like when the coach makes the team do suicide drills and he keeps saying, 'Again! Again!'” Logano said. “That was Paul Wolfe for me with the trials. I ran 800 laps. I was sore and I'd had enough.”
Logano hasn't won a points race this season, so he said this was a big boost for his team.
“The first thing that goes through your mind is God, I wish this counted for points,” Logano said. “But let's be honest, a million is a lot of money and it counts for something.”
He also won the All-Star Race in 2016.
Denny Hamlin finished second and Chris Buescher third in a race that lacked drama for the second straight year on the renovated track.
Kyle Larson, who arrived about an hour before the race after spending the afternoon qualifying fifth for the Indianapolis 500 and flying to North Wilkesboro, finished fourth and fell just short of tying Jimmie Johnson for the most. victories in the All-Star Race with four. after starting from the back of the field.
The newly paved track and different versions of soft tires were supposed to make overtaking easier. They didn't do it.
Hamlin later admitted that he simply couldn't get the lead.
“I would run at him and then you couldn't get past him,” Hamlin said. “I would lose a little bit of air there, and I would try to give my car a break and then I would run towards it again, only I had to be a lot faster to move.”
Logano said: “If it weren't for clean air [and being out front] “I wouldn't have won.”
Team Penske president Michael Nelson called it a great day for the organization after they swept the top three starting spots in the Indianapolis 500 earlier that day.
“We have been close this year [in NASCAR] And to finally make this happen on a day like today, if there was a wait, this was the day to do it,” Nelson said. “A great day for Mr. Penske and the entire organization.”
There was only real fireworks in the second lap when Kyle Busch sent Ricky Stenhouse Jr. into the wall after Stenhouse tried to pass him in the first lap. Stenhouse, upset, drove his wrecked car down pit lane and parked in Busch's pit stall, got out and climbed a ladder to yell at Busch's team.
Stenhouse then confronted Busch in the pits and then threw a punch at him, leading to a fight involving members of both crews. Stenhouse said he was tired of Busch “talking about me” after destroying him at Daytona in the past.
“I know he's frustrated because he's not running as well as he used to,” Stenhouse said after the race.
Larson was the big story before the race.
He arrived at North Wilkesboro Speedway about an hour before the race after a busy afternoon.
His plane landed at the Wilkes County Airport and was then transported by helicopter to the race track and then taken by golf cart to his transporter to begin preparations for the 200-lap exhibition race.
Fans applauded his arrival at the track and he waved to them along the way.
NASCAR and its broadcast partner Fox helped accommodate the sport's star attraction and points leader by delaying the start of the race by 16 minutes to 8:30 p.m. to ensure it arrived on time after surprising some around the world. of racing by qualifying for the Fast 6. in Indianapolis.
Larson will have to do it again next weekend when he attempts to run the double and finish the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Seventeen drivers qualified for the race based on their past achievements. All-Star Open winner Ty Gibbs and runner-up Bubba Wallace advanced to the race on Sunday, along with fan vote winner Noah Gragson.
Hendrick Motorsports Vice President of Competition Chad Knaus marveled at what Larson was able to do in his first qualifying races at Indianapolis in an open-wheel race car against the best drivers in the world.
“We were watching him run and we were like, Oh my God, I can't believe this,” Knaus said. “I asked myself, Oh my God, how did that happen? Very limited track time. I did a couple of tests. I was able to get there and he has a pretty good steering wheel like anyone I've ever seen. He's a phenomenal talent. He gets it.” He is very emotionally stable. “You can place it in almost any environment and it will stand out.”
