Sunday night was one for the books—and if you blinked, you might’ve missed half the action. North Wilkesboro Speedway hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race for the third year running, and this time, it finally brought the kind of wild, gritty racing fans have been begging for.
The old-school short track didn’t just put on a show. It gave us a little history and a whole lot of side-by-side battles at the front that made it a memorable night.
Record-Breaking Night at the NASCAR All-Star Race
For the first time in almost 10 years, we’ve got a new record in the All-Star books. There were 18 official lead changes during the race. That’s five more than the previous record set back in 2016. If you’re a numbers nerd, that’s something worth circling in red.
Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano started things off with a bang, trading the lead twice in the opening 10 laps. And that was just the beginning. Before the halfway point, we’d already seen six different leaders and 10 lead changes, which—was more than the last two Wilkesboro All-Star Races combined.
Quick stats form the All-Star Race:
18 lead changes is an All-Star Race record.
Chevrolet wins the Manufacturer Showdown.
Joey Logano has a record 11 straight top 10s in the All-Star Race and has led the most combined laps in race history. #NASCAR
— Dustin Albino (@DustinAlbino)
Even the NASCAR Insights Twitter account had to jump in mid-race to shout out that we were witnessing history in real time, in a post on X. It was just that kind of night.
Christopher Bell Times It Right, Cashes In Big
And then came Christopher Bell. The 30-year-old rolled off from second, stayed patient through the chaos, and made his move when it mattered most. With just nine laps to go, Bell took advantage of fresher tires—thanks to pitting under the “Promoter’s Caution”—and blew past Logano like he had a rocket strapped to his Camry.
Logano, on the other hand, stayed out during the final yellow, hoping track position would be enough. It wasn’t. Bell’s No. 20 Toyota stuck to the bottom and sailed away to victory. He crossed the line 0.829 seconds ahead of Logano to grab his first All-Star Race win—and pocketed a cool $1 million.
Ross Chastain came home third, followed by Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott. Keselowski, after leading 62 laps, wrecked out on Lap 177.
So, no points, no playoffs—but all the bragging rights and a big payday for Bell. The guy is already having a solid year and now adds this to his résumé. The best part is that the Coca-Cola 600 is next, and Bell won that one last year too.
After a couple of dull races at Wilkesboro, this All-Star edition brought the energy back in a big way. Let’s hope this kind of racing sticks around a while.