Joey Logano ended a 45-race winless run on Sunday night, and he did it at the track NASCAR spent three decades ignoring.
Logano led 323 of the 450 laps at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the first points-paying Cup Series race at the 0.625-mile North Carolina bullring in 30 years. It was the 38th Cup victory of his career and his first since Texas in May 2025.
"A win anywhere at this point would have sounded great, but coming here and doing it at North Wilkesboro is awesome," Logano said.
The result rescued a season that had been quietly drifting. Logano arrived outside the top 16 in the Chase standings and left inside the cutline in 15th. He also extended his streak of winning at least one race to 15 consecutive seasons, the longest run of any active driver.
Denny Hamlin spent much of the night watching it happen from second place.
"It is wildly, wildly impressive what he did," Hamlin said. "I thought it was a really impressive drive from him." He was not inclined to look for excuses afterwards: "You just got to compliment (Logano) on a great day and a great drive."
"We had a phenomenal Toyota," Briscoe said. "That was a long race, but it was pretty fun for me."
Gibbs was similarly content with a car that had the speed but never the track position. "We had such a great car," he said. "I really appreciate my team and the car they gave me."
The most instructive drive may have been fifth. Shane van Gisbergen, still regarded primarily as a road-course specialist, matched his career-best oval finish and briefly led, losing the stage-one win at the final corner.
"When I took the lead, I got pretty excited! I don't know what to do," van Gisbergen said. "Awesome day. Amazing to get stage points both stages."
He was blunter about the conditions inside the car. "It is just hot, man. Just soaked the whole time," he said. "When you are behind people, you just start cooking as well. You feel the brakes, the tires, everything just gets hot."
Bubba Wallace took sixth, a week on from losing his EchoPark runner-up finish to a penalty. His summary carried a note of dry relief: "All in all, a good night for the team. No yellow-line infractions."
Brad Keselowski finished seventh, Todd Gilliland eighth, Daniel Suarez ninth and Ryan Preece tenth. Suarez found the 450-lap distance familiar in the worst way. "It kind of reminded me a little bit like Bristol," he said. "It was a grind-type of day."
Not everyone got out clean. Kyle Larson and Connor Zilisch collided hard on pit road, a reminder of how little room the returning short track offers once the field bunches.
North Wilkesboro was NASCAR's most sentimental gamble of the season: a 30-year absence from points racing ended at a track whose charm has always been its lack of space. The racing behind Logano was largely static. The winner, and the venue, were the story.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/logano-ends-45-race-drought-in-north-wilkesboro-points-return). Visit for full coverage.*