Bell Roughs Up Logano To Win $1,000,000 At North Wilkesboro

Christopher Bell celebrates in victory lane at North Wilkesboro Speedway with his $1,000,000 check after winning the All-Star Race (Scotte Sprinkle/Race Face Digital photo)

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. - Christopher Bell wins $1,000,000 after moving Joey Logano late in the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

With 35 laps remaining, the promoter's caution was thrown. Logano was the leader and elected to not pit. Bell was running second and chose to pit for two-tires. With 28 laps to go, Bell restarted in sixth and started to work through the field.

With just ten laps to go in the race, Bell dived inside Logano in turn one. As they went into turn three, Bell entered low and moved up the track, shoving them both up the track. Off of turn four, Bell slid up in front of Logano to take the lead and hold on to win.

“North Wilkesboro, how about that one?” Bell said after his win.

“That right there was absolutely incredible. North Wilkesboro is the best short track on the schedule. He’s [Joey Logano] probably the best. Him and his spotter do such a good job of working together to play the air game. Whether you’re at North Wilkesboro or you’re at Kansas or Michigan.

"He did a great job of trying to keep me behind him and I knew that once I got that run off turn four, it was like alright, I’m going to have to be a little more aggressive and [I] kind of leaned on him and got him out of position. I knew once I got the lead, I had the tire advantage so I should be able to cruise, and it worked out that way.”

While Bell claimed the glory and the money, Logano was less than pleased with Bell’s move to take the lead with ten to go. 

“It’s all you’ve got,” Logano said after his runner up.

“I was hoping I could just fight him long enough to where the advantage would go away a little bit, but it never did. I did as best I can blocking my butt off, but once he got under me [he] just released the brake and gave me no option to either fence it and wreck or run up in the marbles and spin out like what happened to Heim in the Truck race. I get it.

"We’re racing for a million bucks, but things carry over all the time. I’m upset because we had the best car. We had the best car by a long shot and we didn’t win. I don’t know. A lot of things are running through my mind I probably shouldn’t say.

“If I could've got to him, he was going around after a move like that”

Something else Logano was not a fan of was the promoter's caution. Logano led the most laps on the day, but his lead vanished when Marcus Smith [track owner], via Michael Waltrip as the flag man, threw the prompter’s caution, which had to be thrown before 30 laps to go, if it was to be used.

“You get to -- I'm trying to choose my words correctly on the caution situation,” Logano said about the promoter’s caution.

“Obviously I got bit by it, so I am the one frustrated obviously. I'm all about no gimmicks with the caution. I am all about that. I'm a little -- me and Marcus Smith aren't seeing eye to eye right now, okay? I've got to have a word with him.”

The race itself was the most competitive All-Star Race in history. It had 59 green flag passes for the lead, and 18 lead changes at the start/finish line, the most in the history of the race. Bell praised the track for being so good.

““North Wilkesboro – the best short track in NASCAR,” Bell said when asked about the racing.

“It is absolutely incredible. I had so much fun last year. I sucked in the race, but racing here last year was so much fun. As this place continues to age, it’s just going to get better and better. That was an amazing race. There were so many guys up there racing for the lead. We saw two-wide, three-wide for the lead, it’s just a pleasure to race here.”

Bell won his heat race and started second. Brad Keselowski won the pole and lead the first few laps. Logano, who started fourth, caught Keselowski and they swapped the lead on lap seven, but Keselowski took it back the next lap and lead until the first caution, which came on lap 58 when Daniel Suarez crashed on the backstretch.

The whole field pitted, with Keselowski, William Byron, and Kyle Busch taking right-side tires only, and everyone else taking four. On the restart, Kyle Busch made it three-wide for the lead off of turn two. Busch led the next two laps after the restart, but Byron took the lead on the inside. Logano chased him down and took the back on lap 78 and led until the competition caution on lap 100.

Everyone pitted under the yellow and took four tires, putting everyone on a level playing field. Bell won the race off pit road, but interestingly chose the inside line for the restart. No leader had chosen the inside up to that point. The gamble payed off however, as Bell retained the lead.

The next caution came just a few laps later as Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, and Alex Bowman collided off of turn two, which sent Chastain spinning down the backstretch. Bell again chose the inside for the restart, but this time Logano used the outside to pass Bell and take the lead back.

Keselowski hit the wall in turn three to bring out the final natural caution on lap 177. Everyone pitted, and Kyle Larson gambled and took right-side tires when everyone else took four. With only 68 laps left when they restarted, the field knew it was go time.

Larson fought hard on the outside, but Logano got past with 65 laps remaining and started to set sail. Bell was able to follow Logano past Larson and set his sights on the lead. Bell had caught Logano by lap 215 when the promoter’s caution fell. At the same time as the caution, Larson hit the wall and broke a toe-link, then tried to get back onto the road. Logano, along with Ryan Blaney, Chastain, Carson Hocevar, and Harrison Burton stayed out, while Bell took two tires.

Logano jumped ahead on the restart with 25 laps to go, but Bell reeled him in quickly. Bell spent several laps on the bottom trying to complete the pass, then with ten to go made the contact that sent them both up the track and allowed him to win the race.

Chevrolet won the first ever Manufacturer's Showdown as their five representatives scored the best combined finishes of the three OEMs.

The next race is the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25 at 6 p.m. ET, streaming live on Amazon Prime, on the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM Radio channel 90.