Joey Logano leads nearly every lap and wins NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (2024)

Joey Logano won the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro in dominant fashion.

He started from the pole and led 199 of the 200 laps. It’s the second All-Star Race win of his career after winning the race eight years ago in Charlotte.

Denny Hamlin finished second, Chris Buescher third, Kyle Larson fourth and Ryan Blaney fifth.

Here’s a look at the race’s biggest moments as they unfolded:

Lap 200: Joey Logano wins!

Lap 193: Seven to go! Joey Logano has not let up.

Lap 181: Joey Logano has now led for 180 of 181 laps today — the longest any driver has led a NASCAR All-Star Race. Will the two-time Cup champion win it for the first time in eight years? He leads Denny Hamlin by a healthy margin late.

Lap 175: With 25 laps to go, your Top 10: Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch.

Lap 162: Kyle Larson is up to third. He’d pitted from seventh and had recently been as low as 10th. Now he’s surging toward the front — on fresher tires.

Lap 158: Green again! Joey Logano goes to the top and maintains the lead. Denny Hamlin is charging right behind him.

Lap 153: Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch are among the drivers who decided to pit under the caution.

Lap 150: We’ve reached the next scheduled competition caution! Drivers do not have to pit this time — they can opt to avoid pit road and maintain their track position.

Lap 142: Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney get side-by-side for second — and Blaney surges past him to solely take second place! Joey Logano’s lead — who’s led 141 of 142 laps — is by roughly a split-second.

Lap 124: Back to green! Joey Logano from the outside; Denny Hamlin on the inside.

Lap 119: We have our third caution! Toward the back of the field, Kyle Busch — again! — gets into Ty Gibbs, who spins after the contact. Gibbs had a fire at the bottom of his 54 car. Noah Gragson will be the free pass.

Lap 115: Joey Logano gets in front of Denny Hamlin’s bumper as Christopher Bell slips back to third, now door-to-door with Ryan Blaney.

Lap 113: Whoa! Here comes Denny Hamlin going three-wide for the lead!

Lap 108: Green again! Christopher Bell got the inside lane and is battling Joey Logano for the lead.

Lap 105: Drivers are making four-tire pit stops under the planned caution. The “option” tires — a softer, slicker tire — lasted all 100 laps for most drivers.

Competition caution, Lap 100: And we enter our scheduled caution halfway through! Joey Logano paced the field from the pole.

Your Top 10: Logano, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott.

Lap 85: Joey Logano has commanded this race since the initial green flag, and a trio of Fords keep pulling closer to the two-time Cup champion. Chris Buescher continues running second, Ryan Blaney third, Brad Keselowski fourth and Christopher Bell fifth.

Lap 66: William Byron pits! The 24 had a bent toe link after hitting a bump and getting into the wall. He pitted from 11th and is now 12 laps down.

Lap 43: Thirty-three laps into their run on prime tires — with distinct yellow Goodyear lettering — is the first time that a car with those wheels was the fastest on the track. And who was it? Denny Hamlin. Joey Logano still leads.

Lap 26: Joey Logano, who won the All-Star Race in 2016, has led for the entirety of the race. Chris Buescher has surged to second, followed by Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski.

Lap 10: Green for the restart! Joey Logano still leads, with Brad Keselowski on the inside and Tyler Reddick on the outside behind him.

Lap 5: All but five cars head down pit road under caution — with the choice among prime, option and wet-weather tires.

Lap 2: Caution! That didn’t take long! Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spins and slams the wall after being hit by Kyle Busch. Stenhouse parks his car in Busch’s pit stall and has some words for the 8 team. He says that he parked there because that’s “something Kyle would’ve done” and told Busch’s crew chief Randall Burnett that he wants to see Busch after the race. When asked if there’s anything Busch could tell him to nullify Stenhouse’s anger, Stenhouse said, “Nothing. Nothing.” When asked how Stenhouse will approach Busch, he offered a grin, “Just watch.” Another shot Stenhouse fired: “Felt like I did a really good job. He just did a poor job at the start. And then he was mad about it. I think that’s the way his season’s gone.”

Here’s a look at what happened:

Green flag, 8:33 p.m.: We’re off! Joey Logano jumps out to the lead from the pole.

8:25 p.m.: “Drivers, start your engines!” An electric command from one of NASCAR’s newest Hall of Fame inductees — Chad Knaus, the crew chief of Jimmie Johnson — gets the engines fired for tonight’s All-Star Race!

8:20 p.m.: Don’t worry ... Kyle Larson has arrived from qualifying in the Top 5 for the Indy 500; the race can thus begin! The green flag will wave in 10 minutes. Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace were the open cars that made the All-Star Race. Scroll down for the starting lineup. We won’t make you scroll for our All-Star Race predictions, though: Shane Connuck has William Byron — a savvy pick considering Hendrick Motorsports has won 11 of the 40 All-Star Races — and Alex Zietlow has Kyle Busch .... a less savvy pick. Nonetheless! Racing soon!

Live updates from All-Star Open

Lap 100: Ty Gibbs wins the All-Star Open! Bubba Wallace finishes second and has thus also punched his proverbial ticket to the All-Star Race around 8:30 p.m.

Lap 98: Two to go! Josh Berry is pushing from third, but Bubba Wallace remains ahead. Ty Gibbs closing in on the win.

Lap 91: Ty Gibbs is running all by himself! Under 10 left in the All-Star Open, and the 54 car continues to be dominant. The 23 Toyota of Bubba Wallace is within three seconds of Gibbs, ahead of Josh Berry, Justin Haley and Noah Gragson.

Lap 75: Whoa! Bubba Wallace, Josh Berry and Alex Bowman get three-wide for second! Wallace pulls away, ahead of Berry, and Bowman slips back to fourth. Twenty-five to go!

Lap 65: Back to green! Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace are battling behind Ty Gibbs.

Lap 60: Carson Hocevar and Noah Gragson got three-wide, with Austin Cindric in the middle, off a corner. Cindric spun and got into the wall.

Lap 58: Caution! Austin Cindric spins into the wall.

Lap 50: We’re halfway through the Open, and it looks like Ty Gibbs is going to run his way into the All-Star Race just like he did last year. The Charlotte native has been dominant. Competition caution comes out. Your Top 5: Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe. Only P1 and P2 move on to the All-Star Race.

Lap 20: An update from Indianapolis: Kyle Larson is heading to his first helicopter ride, taking off from the Indianapolis golf course to his private jet. Larson will start fifth in the Indy 500, and Scott McLaughlin secured the pole position.

Lap 15: Ty Gibbs leads early from the pole. Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric run behind him, followed by Alex Bowman and Chase Briscoe.

Green flag, 5:42 p.m.: Green flag for the All-Star Open!

5:34 p.m.: Engines are fired for the All-Star Open! Racin’ soon at North Wilkesboro!

5:25 p.m.: Good evening from North Wilkesboro! After torrential rain and lightning pushed most of the Truck Series race to Sunday morning and wiped out the All-Star heat races, NASCAR’s All-Star Open is set to begin soon.

Some timing specifics (which are slightly adjusted):

• All-Star Open: Invocation: 5:24:20 p.m.; America the Beautiful: 5:25:00 p.m.; Command: 5:32:00 p.m.; Green Flag: 5:38:00 p.m.

• All-Star Race: Invocation: 8:16:00 p.m.; National Anthem: 8:17:35 p.m.; Command: 8:24:00 p.m.; Green Flag: 8:30:00 p.m.

Kyle Larson makes Fast Six in Indy 500 qualifying

Part of the reason that the schedule got pushed back slightly? Because the plan remains for Kyle Larson, who is making waves in Indy 500 qualifying up north, to fly into Wilkesboro ahead of tonight’s All-Star Race.

Larson hit 232.788 mph during Sunday’s “Fast 12” qualifying session ahead of the Indianapolis 500, putting him into the “Fast Six” who will race for the pole this evening.

That Fast Six session begins at 5:25 p.m. and should wrap up by 5:55 p.m. He is expected to get onto a helicopter from the Indy Golf Course by 6:05 p.m., according to the Associated Press, to a private jet, to another helicopter to get to North Wilkesboro. Engines are scheduled to be fired at 8:08 p.m.

“Our chips are all-in on getting Kyle Larson here,” Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports’ vice president of competition, told reporters Sunday. “We’ve got a meticulous plan with aviation, security and a lot of things put in place.”

Corey Heim wins Truck Series race after 21-hour delay

NASCAR’s trucks went green on Saturday afternoon, and the race was stopped on Lap 81 to severe weather.

Approximately four inches of rain came down in under two hours and North Wilkesboro Speedway lost power, pushing the resumption of the Truck Series race to 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The delay lasted 21 hours, six minutes and 14 seconds.

Corey Heim, the top Truck driver who made his Cup Series debut this year, held off the field and took his third checkered flag of this season.

Grant Enfinger finished second, Layne Riggs third, Brenden Queen fourth and Sammy Smith fifth.

Who are the favorites in the All-Star Open and Race?

Ty Gibbs is the favorite to win the Open, at +130 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook and +140 odds on FanDuel Sportsbook, followed by Bubba Wallace, Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe and Alex Bowman.

Denny Hamlin has the best odds to win the All-Star Race, at +380 on DraftKings Sportsbook and +400 on FanDuel Sportsbook, followed by defending race winner Kyle Larson, William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski.

Who will win the NASCAR All-Star Race? Observer picks

Charlotte Observer NASCAR reporter Shane Connuck is picking Charlotte’s own William Byron to win his first All-Star Race. Is 2024 the year for the driver of the No. 24? Byron has already triumphed in the Daytona 500 — on a superspeedway — before winning on a short track (Martinsville) and a road course (Circuit of the Americas). He’ll be starting 13th tonight, which should provide plenty of time for Byron to work through the field, like when he started 18th in his Martinsville victory.

The Observer’s Alex Zietlow is picking Kyle Busch. Richard Childress, the plucky owner of RCR, stepped into the media center Sunday afternoon and made clear that he felt great about his chances at this short-track. (He even deadpanned that his driver — and grandson — Austin Dillon should be on the pole because he’d ran a lap during qualifying before the skies opened and didn’t relent, but that’s another matter.) The 8 team hasn’t had a great year to date with only four Top 10s through 13 races. Everything changes tonight, though. Just wait on it.

Starting lineup for the All-Star Open

Starting lineup for the All-Star Race