By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (AP) — The drought is over for Joey Logano.
Logano snapped a 45-race winless streak Sunday night with a dominant victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the first points race at the 0.625-mile track in 30 years.
After Logano wrapped up a lengthy on-track burnout, Denny Hamlin approached him and dabbed him up out of respect. Hamlin spent the second part of the race doing everything he could to catch Logano, but it proved fruitless.
The No. 22 Ford was too dominant. Logano led 323 of 450 laps.
“It’s wildly, wildly impressive what he did,” Hamlin said. “I thought it was a really impressive drive from him, how he maneuvered through (lapped) traffic and did everything we know Joey to do.”
It was Logano’s 38th career Cup win, and his first since May 2025 at Texas.
The 36-year-old Logano also extended his streak of winning at least one race to 15 consecutive seasons, the longest among active drivers. The late Kyle Busch holds the record, winning in 19 straight seasons (2005-2023).
“A win anywhere at this point would have sounded great, but coming here and doing it at North Wilkesboro is awesome,” Logano said.
Hamlin finished second, followed by Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and Shane Van Gisbergen.
It was a huge win for Logano, who entered the race outside of the top 16 in the Chase for the playoffs. He’s now inside the cutline in 15th place.
“I feel like I know exactly what I need to go fast around this place,” said Logano, who won the 2024 All-Star race here in dominant fashion. “I knew coming this weekend that we’ve got to capitalize on the points.”
The track, built in 1947, sat mostly dormant for a quarter of a century following its last points race in on Sept. 29, 1996.
Speedway Motorsports undertook the monumental task of refurbishing it, including clearing the weeds and trees growing up through the middle of the racetrack. NWS hosted the All-Star race from 2023-25.
In-Season Challenge to be settled next week
Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilliland have reached the finals of the $1 million NASCAR In-Season Challenge. Blaney defeated Christopher Bell head-to-head in the semifinals on Sunday night, while Gilliland topped Chase Elliott.
The champion will be decided next Sunday in Indianapolis at the Brickyard 400 with the driver finishing higher in the race awarded the $1 million prize.
Bowman takes out Reddick while entering the pits
Tyler Reddick got caught up a wreck on lap 184 when Alex Bowman cut him off as he was attempting to go from the top row down into pit row, spinning out the No. 45.
Bowman told his crew chief, “I thought I had hole but maybe I didn’t.”
A tough night for pole-sitter Ryan Blaney
Ryan Blaney, who won last week at Atlanta, was set to start on the pole based on metrics after qualifying was rained out on Saturday. Instead, he was forced to start the race at the rear of the field after his No. 12 Ford Mustang had a power steering pump issue.
Things only got worst for the 2023 Cup Series champion after he received a speeding penalty on pit row on lap 365, dropping him out of the top five and costing him 15 positions.
Up next
The Cup Series heads to Indianapolis next week for the Brickyard 400. Bubba Wallace captured his first crown jewel event last year after Austin Cindric blew a tire.