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Christopher Bell Muscles By Joey Logano At North Wilkesboro Speedway To Win His First NASCAR All-Star Race

by Hunter Thomas May 18, 2025 0 comments

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – Christopher Bell muscled his way by Joey Logano in the closing laps at North Wilkesboro Speedway to earn his first-ever NASCAR All-Star Race.

When Michael Waltrip waved the Promoter’s Caution with 33 laps to go, Logano, who had been dominate all night, stayed out, while his closest competitors behind him pitted for fresh tires. When the race got underway again, it was a dog fight between Logano, Bell and Ross Chastain. With nine laps to go, Bell rubbed fenders with Logano in Turns 3 and 4 and set sail to become the 27^th different driver and only the third Joe Gibbs Racing driver to win the $1 million purse event.

“North Wilkesboro, how about that one,” Bell said. “That right there is absolutely incredible. North Wilkesboro, best short track on the schedule.”

Bell’s pit crew had been clutch all weekend long, even finishing second in the Pit Crew Challenge. At the end of the race when it mattered most, his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Mobile 1 crew capitalized on the final pit stop and put him in a position to win.

“Man, they’re the best,” Bells said. “There’s nothing else to say. This sport can be so humbling because behind the car, behind the wheel, you’re just a small part of success. These boys right here, Adam Stevens (crew chief) on the pit box, all the mechanics, all the engineers that put this thing together, they’re the big picture. I’m the guy that gets to sit up here and talk to you and take pictures, but without them, I’m nobody. I owe it all to these guys.”

As for Logano, he held on to finish second, but he wasn’t happy at all with the way the caution fell and the way Bell moved him up the track in the closing laps.

“I felt like the falloff wasn’t too bad as the sun went down, and yeah, six cars or so stayed out with us,” Logano said. “Thought maybe we could hold him off but the 20 had a good enough restart, cleared too many of them too fast. I couldn’t get away in time. It took me six, seven laps to get my car up and rolling again.

“I did all I could do to hold him off and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option. Kind of just ran me up into the wall, and 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 too much to try to make up with the tire deficit.”

Chastain finished third, followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and William Byron. Tyler Reddick finished seventh, and rounding out the top-10 was Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and Chris Buescher.

In addition, Chevrolet won the first-ever Manufacturer Showdown on Sunday night.

The race saw 59 green flag passes for the lead, which is a NASCAR All-Star record from 2005 – 2025.

There were also 18 lead changes at the Start/Finish Line, which is the most ever in the race since its inception in 1985.

Eight different drivers swapped the lead, and that statistic ties the second most all-time dating back to 1985 as well. Back in 2022, there were nine different leaders at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

There were 1,426 green flag passes throughout the 250-lap race, which marks the second most of all-time since 2005. The 2018 edition of the NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway saw 1,493 green flag passes.

The NASCAR Cup Series will now visit Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25. For the first time ever, a NASCAR race will be broadcast on Amazon Prime. Catch the action at 6 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: David Jensen/Getty Images