That is just what a standard issue NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro Speedway has historically looked like.
Joey Logano outdueled Denny Hamlin through lapped traffic at the conclusion of a flag-to-flag final stage that left only six drivers on the lead lap in the Window World 450. Of course, there was also an untimely caution for Alex Bowman chopping Tyler Reddick in the middle of a green flag pit cycle and trapping most of the field a lap down.
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With a flag-to-flag final stage, there wasn’t much for them to do to get back in the mix, either. With that said, it was still very much a race that would have looked ordinary in the North Carolina foothills in the 1980s.
Logano says he expects those who sold out this race to appreciate a retro race the most.
“The fans here, they’re diehards, right,” Logano said. “This is like the old school track. They know you don’t have all the amenities of a brand-new stadium-type thing, right? If you like old-school NASCAR racing, this is it. We have a lot of those people.
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“We need to remember to always cherish those people and understand that they are the backbone of our sport. Coming to a racetrack like this and giving them a race to remember, just the whole experience itself, just bringing this place back, that’s huge for them.”
The three-year-old pavement is starting to create some degree of tire degradation and a wider racing groove but it was still challenging for Hamlin to find a way around Logano running the same lap times.
“The lap times fall off some, not much,” Hamlin said. “I mean, gosh, I feel like that last run, we probably fired off in the 18.80s and finished in the 19.20s — four-tenths is going to be really tough to pas unless you have a big substantial difference.
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“But Goodyear is bringing the softest thing they’ve got. So, we’ll assess it. But overall, I thought the increased horsepower was good. Sometimes, you have these races where someone hits it and you got to just say that’s a dominating day and the guy deserved to win.”
And Hamlin made a point to shake hands with his former teammate and longtime occasional rival.
“It was just wildly impressive,” Hamlin said. “I thought it was a really impressive drive from them, and he maneuvered through traffic really well, and he did everything we know Joey (Logano) to do. Really feel good about our day though. Really big improvement of where we were here last year. This Toyota was just one spot short.”
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The only shot Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gayle had was short pitting, also called an undercut, to get out ahead of Logano when he also pitted. Logano came in one lap after the undercut and emerged ahead of Hamlin.
“I was hoping maybe the (Penske 22) would slip up and give us another lap before they pitted and maybe to be able to short them or maybe to have a bad stop because I felt like we were pretty even the last little bit,” Gayle said. “I mean, maybe the 22 got through traffic a little better. Man, it was close. I think whoever would’ve come out front might’ve won the race right there after that pit cycle.”
Could Hamlin have held Logano off?
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“I think we were so equal on speed that last run,” Hamlin said. “We probably would have had a contact at some point.”
Needed Win
Logano’s victory snapped a 45-race winless streak but also one that risked them missing the 16-driver Chase for the Championship entirely.
NASCAR no longer uses a win and you’re in format, but his triumph does move him to 15th and 49 points above the cut with five races left to go.
“It’s one step at a time,” Logano said. “I always said this team doesn’t crack under pressure. Like, that’s our biggest strength, is that we’re an even-keeled team. You just keep going along.
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“Obviously, the pressure’s on us right now. This team usually excels in those situations, under pressure. We’ve seen that for years in the Playoff system we’ve had for years. It really put us under that crazy amount of pressure for years. Our team’s gotten really good at that.
“This point of the season where we are, yeah, we’re in the crazy amount of pressure territory just to get in. I like that. I like that our team excels in that. I think all of us do. A lot of that’s just ’cause of experience that we’ve been there, done that.”
Logano has found himself outside of the top-15 in points a lot in recent years, typically bailed out by the win and advance format from the past decade, making the early struggles this year all the more impactful.
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Wolfe, despite his three championships and two with Logano, conceded a degree of self-doubt, but also doesn’t show it publicly.
“I don’t know how anyone can struggle at times like we did this year and not doubt are we doing this right, are we ever going to win again,” Logano said. “I guess that’s how I approach in general.
“It’s not about what we did last week, it’s about what are we doing right now, right? But I’m good at trying to keep a level head and keeping everyone around me the same way. I don’t get too emotional over the highs and the lows.
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“I hope that that kind of rubs off on everyone to keep them kind of focused and doing their job, knowing that if we all continue to work hard and work smart, make sure we’re working in the right areas, been doing it long enough that it goes in waves, and we’ll eventually get back to where we need to be.”
Logano said there were a lot of tough conversations between them that didn’t produce a lot of answers. How could six combined championships suddenly be so far off even as their teammates at the No. 12 car look like a legitimate contender?
“A lot of the things we talked about is I don’t knows, right,” Logano said. “Obviously if we knew the answer, we would fix it. There’s definitely a lot of challenging conversations, a lot of things looking inward at yourself, figuring out what are we missing, where is it at, what am I doing wrong. Those things are all real.
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“We’re human. We can come here and try to BS everyone about how confident everyone is. Obviously those Mondays after a bad race, you’re looking inward first before anything else, as you should. Those are real conversations sometimes with yourself.
“You just keep fighting and keep grinding away. It’s how I’ve done it my whole career. You just keep going. Just keep running and eventually you start to see some progress. It just takes a while.”
Both Logano and Wolfe also admitted conviction they aren’t a championship contender yet, but could have a shot if they can make up the 60ish points over the next five races to crack the top-10.
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That’s where Tony Stewart effectively made his Chase for the Championship run from in 2011.
“We still want to win the championship,” Logano said. “We got some great tracks coming up ahead of us, so there’s definitely a lot of confidence in that. That’s definitely real, that we feel like we can capitalize on it. We capitalized on it today.
“I think if we keep doing what we did tonight, we can get back into the top 10 in points. It’s a ways out, but we can get there if we keep having great runs where we can score stage points in both stages, finish in the top 10. If you could that consistently enough, we’ll scratch and claw our way back to where we have a chance to win still.
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“I don’t think 15th is good enough to enter the Playoffs or the Chase, think you have a shot at winning the championship. If we can keep grinding through these next few weeks, maybe we can get ourself a position to maybe we can have a shot at something.”
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford; Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford; Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
SVG’s Break Out
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With five races left to go until the Chase for the Championship, Shane Van Gisbergen is starting to become a more well-rounded NASCAR driver, a top-five on pure pace on Sunday at North Wilkesboro.
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That leaves him 14th in the standings and 54 points above the cutline.
Van Gisbergen even led 49 laps, second to Logano’s 323, even passing Hamlin for the lead on Lap 52 from the eighth starting position. He even quipped over the Trackhouse No. 97 radio about what comes next.
“I’m leading. What the fuck do I do now?”
The answer, it turns out, is compete for the win on a traditional oval all race and finish the night one of only six drivers on the lead lap.
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“I mean, it’s just calmer when you get up there,” Van Gisbergen said. “Everyone’s racing really respectful. … I passed Denny and mucked that up and let him back through, like it’s a lot friendlier type of people up there.”
The three-time Supercars champion has taken a quick liking to short tracks because he believes his elite road racing skillset translates over.
“It’s a bit like a road course here,” Van Gisbergen said. “I tried right-foot brake for a bit. Half the race, I right-foot braked and just felt comfortable doing that. It’s a real balance track, and you can really affect the car with your driving technique. So yeah, I felt comfortable doing that.”
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So where is he in his transition to NASCAR?
“I’m still weak on intermediates,” he said. “I think that’s probably my lowest ranked track, getting better at drafting ones. But intermediates, we’re weak, I’m weak, weak as a team. We really need to step up there.”
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