Joey Logano is back, front and center, in the NASCAR Chase race.
Logano led 323 of 450 laps to win the Window World 450 NASCAR Cup Series race on July 19 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.
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Denny Hamlin kept pace within a second of Logano in the final 80 laps after the last pit stop, but never truly threatened the lead.
Logano moved into 15th place in the points standings, 49 ahead of the Chase cutline with five races left in the regular season.
Here are the winners and losers from the NASCAR North Wilkesboro race:
RACE RESULTS: Who won NASCAR North Wilkesboro race? Winner is Joey Logano, plus full results
NASCAR North Wilkesboro winners and losers as Joey Logano vaults into Chase position
Winner: Joey Logano and his Chase chances
Logano and the No. 22 Team Penske team has struggled for consistency the past couple seasons and especially through the first half of 2026.
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But they have figured out North Wilkesboro.
Logano has finished first (2024 All-Star Race), second (2025 All-Star Race) and first (on July 19) at the 0.625-mile track, leading 323 laps in this season’s race en route to the checkered flag.
Going into the weekend, he had led 116 laps all season.
The No. 22 has shown signs of a small uptick with finishes of 12th and ninth the past two weeks. But North Wilkesboro was different.
Was it different in a way that is sustainable? I’m not ready to go that far. But this three-race run is the summer bump Logano needed.
Winner: Shane van Gisbergen and his Chase chances
Shane van Gisbergen compiled the third-most points of the race, leading 49 laps and running in the top 10 the entire night to a fifth-place finish.
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The run was crucial for his Chase hopes, moving to 54 points ahead of the cutline.
And while Logano’s form is starting to turn upward, Austin Cindric (16th in points) and Erik Jones (17th) aren’t running consistently. Cindric hasn’t recorded a top-10 since Watkins Glen in May; Jones has three finishes in the 20s in the past five events.
It’s not time to call this one into the decision desk, but SVG is almost certainly Chase-bound.
Loser: Erik Jones and his Chase chances
Jones’ Chase chances were dented at North Wilkesboro after a 21st-place run.
Jones got the benefit of the mid-race caution during a green-flag cycle, but struggled for pace on the long run and especially after brushing the wall with 60 laps to go.
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The Legacy Motor Club driver punctuated the night’s outcome with two 11th-place finishes in the two stages, missing out on points twice by one position.
He left North Wilkesboro in 17th in points, 33 points off the cutline.
Jones goes to Indianapolis next week, where he suffered a DNF in 2025 via a crash following a loose wheel. Jones has four DNFs in six races at the 2.5-mile track.
Losers: Hendrick Motorsports
Alex Bowman and the No. 48 team may get a side-eye or two this week at the Hendrick Motorsports shop.
Bowman’s ill-fated turn toward pit road turned into a two-car incident that produced a caution on Lap 183, catching teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott on the wrong end of the green-flag cycle.
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The Nos. 9 and 24 had already stopped and were two laps down at the time of caution, while Logano and others had not stopped. Elliott was a top-five car before the pit cycle, while Byron was around the top 10.
Neither driver raced back on to the lead lap in a green-flag heavy final 250 laps. Byron finished 12th, two laps down, while Elliott finished 17th.
Bowman, with some damage and not nearly the same pace as his teammates, sulked to a 26th-place run.
Kyle Larson was already a lap down after suffering damage on pit road during an earlier stop following contact with Connor Zilisch. The No. 5 fought back to a 15th-place finish but never flirted with the top 10.
All four Hendrick cars were two laps down or worse by the finish.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR North Wilkesboro winners, losers as Joey Logano makes Chase statement
