Bell holds off Logano to win NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro
Christopher Bell is the NASCAR All-Star Race winner for the first time.
The driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing won the competitive midseason exhibition race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday night. Bell successfully held off Joey Logano — the reigning race winner and three-time Cup Series champion — after making a late pass for the lead.
The 30-year-old Cup Series standout sits third in the standings at the all-star break. Also the most recent winner of the Coca-Cola 600 in Concord, Bell has won three points races — tying him with Kyle Larson for the most victories this season.
“Best short track on the schedule,” Bell said of Wilkesboro. “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, (crew chief) Adam Stevens on the pit box, all the mechanics, all the engineers who put this thing together, they’re the big picture. I’m the guy who 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.”
Logano finished in second place, Ross Chastain third, Alex Bowman fourth and Chase Elliott fifth.
Official results from the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro
Post-race garage inspection is complete, and there are no issues.
Position | Driver | Car Number |
1 | Christopher Bell | 20 |
2 | Joey Logano | 22 |
3 | Ross Chastain | 1 |
4 | Alex Bowman | 48 |
5 | Chase Elliott | 9 |
6 | William Byron | 24 |
7 | Tyler Reddick | 45 |
8 | Kyle Busch | 8 |
9 | Chase Briscoe | 19 |
10 | Chris Buescher | 17 |
11 | Carson Hocevar | 77 |
12 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
13 | Noah Gragson | 4 |
14 | Austin Dillon | 3 |
15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 |
16 | Ryan Blaney | 12 |
17 | Josh Berry | 21 |
18 | Austin Cindric | 2 |
19 | John Hunter Nemechek | 42 |
20 | Harrison Burton | 51 |
21 | Kyle Larson | 5 |
22 | Brad Keselowski | 6 |
23 | Daniel Suárez | 99 |
Live updates from North Wilkesboro
Lap 250: Christopher Bell wins!
Lap 241: Christopher Bell takes the lead from Joey Logano!
Lap 239: Joey Logano gets to the inside lane as Christopher Bell races him hard from the outside.
Lap 233: Joey Logano gets by Christopher Bell, who got side-by-side for the lead once again. Alex Bowman is up to P3, Ross Chastain in fourth place and Chase Elliott in fifth.
Lap 225: Ryan Blaney slides back through the field, all the way into 15th place. Ross Chastain and Christopher Bell battle for second place behind Joey Logano.
Lap 223: Back to green! Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney lead. Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell and Carson Hocevar run up front.
Lap 219: Christopher Bell makes contact with Noah Gragson on pit road! Bell still gets off ahead of Chase Elliott and William Byron.
Lap 217: Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney stay out! Most of the field pits.
Lap 215: Here’s the promoter’s caution! Michael Waltrip waves — and drops — the yellow flag on the race track.
Lap 214: Joey Logano is out in front of Christopher Bell. Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney get past Kyle Larson.
Lap 210: Ten laps until Lap 220 — if the promoter’s caution is going to come out, it’ll have to be soon.
Lap 205: Joey Logano continues leading as the field mostly runs single-file.
Your Top 10: Logano, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch.
Lap 188: The 15 lead changes tonight mark the most in any NASCAR All-Star Race. Joey Logano is still out in front, with Christopher Bell behind him in second place ahead of Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson.
Lap 186: Joey Logano gets the lead back!
Lap 184: Restart has been approved after review. Kyle Larson and Joey Logano — the past two All-Star Race winners at North Wilkesboro — run side-by-side for the lead.
Lap 183: Back to green! Kyle Larson takes the lead.
Lap 178: Pit stops come under this yellow flag, with Kyle Larson dominating the race off pit road to gain six positions.
Lap 175: Fourth caution is out! Brad Keselowski! Tonight’s pole-sitter who has run well and led 63 laps comes to pit road with damage.
Lap 170: Joey Logano maintains his lead with 80 laps left.
Lap 156: Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott remain out in front of the pack.
Your Top 10: Logano, Bell, Blaney, Elliott, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson (after starting from the rear), William Byron, Brad Keselowski and Josh Berry.
Lap 148: Joey Logano has a lead of nearly one second over Christopher Bell.
Lap 130: Joey Logano continues leading the race from the inside lane. Christopher Bell runs on top of the track behind him, with Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and William Byron still rounding out the Top Five.
Lap 123: Joey Logano passes Christopher Bell for the lead!
Lap 120: Christopher Bell and Joey Logano bring us back to green! Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott run well behind the leaders.
Lap 112: Another yellow flag comes out! Ross Chastain goes around.
Lap 111: Big contact between Austin Cindric and Josh Berry. Race stays green, and Christopher Bell still leads.
Lap 109: Restart! Christopher Bell clears Joey Logano off Turn Two.
Lap 102: There’s the competition caution! Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski, Ross Chastain and Josh Berry are your Top 10.
Lap 82: Joey Logano pulls away from Christopher Bell and William Byron.
Lap 74: Joey Logano gets by William Byron to recapture the lead! The two go back and forth, with Christopher Bell back up in third place.
Lap 65: William Byron, the Charlotte native, gets to the lead at North Wilkesboro!
Lap 63: Kyle Busch comes up from the inside lane and makes it three-wide for the lead with Brad Keselowski and William Byron!
Lap 62: Back to green!
Lap 57: Caution! Daniel Suárez’s right front tire goes down and he gets into the wall in Turn Four.
Lap 43: The sun is setting on a beautiful night in Wilkes County, and the racing at North Wilkesboro continues going strong. Brad Keselowski remains out in front of Joey Logano by less than a split-second, with Hendrick teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott running well behind them.
Lap 32: Your Top 10: Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman.
Lap 28: This is a great race for the lead as Brad Keselowski leads from the outside lane and is attempting to pull away from Joey Logano. The field is particularly tight early — less than one second separate the 23-car field — with Keselowski’s lead now under one car-length.
Lap 10: Brad Keselowski gets back around Joey Logano as the two battle for the early lead.
Lap 5: Brad Keselowski leads from the pole early, and fellow Ford driver and reigning All-Star Race winner Joey Logano gets alongside him up front. William Byron and Chase Elliott charge up past Christopher Bell to take P3 and P4, respectively, as the race gets going.
Green flag, 8:19 p.m.: Coming to the flag! Let’s go racing!
8:08 p.m.: Jon Wood and Michael Waltrip give command to fire the engines! Racin’ coming up soon.
8 p.m.: Part of the pre-race festivities today has included three skydivers parachuting onto the race track, each one carrying an American flag, a North Carolina flag and an All-Star Race flag, respectively, and the energized crowd at North Wilkesboro loved it.
7:50 p.m.: Drivers and pit crews have been introduced to the sold-out crowd! Green flag is scheduled for 8:14 p.m.
7:35 p.m.: Tonight’s All-Star Race is sold out, Speedway Motorsports officials announce. The capacity crowd includes spectators from 43 states and nine foreign countries, including the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. Driver introductions are underway on the track, with each all-star’s pit crew being showcased.
7:15 p.m.: A little more than 45 minutes until the All-Star Race is set to go green! Cars are out on pit road as the sun begins setting in Wilkes County. There’s now a fresh coat of paint on the choose marker, after Ryan Preece sustained a choose cone penalty during the Open and placed a cone on pit wall in frustration.
6:40 p.m.: Carson Hocevar and John Hunter Nemechek finished P1 and P2, respectively, in the NASCAR All-Star Open, and that they cemented their spot in the All-Star Race field. Noah Gragson earned the NASCAR Fan Vote for the second consecutive year. Nemechek moved from eighth to second — a great result after a weekend of worrying that track position would reign and make passing difficult. (Though, don’t tell that to Shane van Gisbergen: SVG had a commanding lead at the competition caution, took four tires and then couldn’t make it back up to the front despite having a great car.)
The only other result of note? Ryan Preece, who had a good car, was sent to the rear of the field during a caution after failing to pick a lane and instead rolling over the “choose” box.
Here are the full All-Star Open results. Sounds from pit road afterward:
Noah Gragson: “It is actually pretty racy compared to last year. I feel like the groove is pretty wide. It rubbers up in Turns 3 and 4. There is like a — when we run our right sides, if you run the bottom, it’s like rubbering up and the rubber is stacking. ... So the best place to pass somebody is by trying to get to their right rear and getting the momentum off the corner, but it’s just a tough, challenging racetrack. This is a really, really hard racetrack, even with the new asphalt.”
Carson Hocevar: “Hopefully we can take advantage of (qualifying for the All-Star Race). I’ve seen Kasey Kahne win and Dale (Earnhardt) and others win from the Open and stuff. Maybe we can take that advantage of having this notebook and move forward early and be able to take this Indiana Fever and Gainbridge Chevy up front.”
How to watch, purse, racetrack details
- Place: North Wilkesboro Speedway
- Track Length: 0.625 Mile Asphalt Oval
- The Time: 8 p.m. ET
- The Purse: $2,421,400
- TV: FS1, 5 p.m. ET
- Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
- Distance: 156.25 miles (250 Laps)
- Competition Break: At or around Lap 100
Starting lineup for NASCAR All-Star Race
Position | Driver | Car Number |
1 | Brad Keselowski | 6 |
2 | Christopher Bell | 20 |
3 | Ross Chastain | 1 |
4 | Joey Logano | 22 |
5 | William Byron | 24 |
6 | Chase Elliott | 9 |
7 | Ryan Blaney | 12 |
8 | Kyle Busch | 8 |
9 | Alex Bowman | 48 |
10 | Chris Buescher | 17 |
11 | Josh Berry | 21 |
12 | Daniel Suarez | 99 |
13 | Tyler Reddick | 45 |
14 | Chase Briscoe | 19 |
15 | Austin Dillon | 3 |
16 | Austin Cindric | 16 |
17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 |
18 | Harrison Burton | 18 |
19 | Kyle Larson | 5 |
| 20 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
| 21 | Carson Hocevar | 77 |
| 22 | John Hunter Nemechek | 42 |
| 23 | Noah Gragson | 4 |
This story was originally published May 18, 2025 at 6:52 PM.
