For the second consecutive year, defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano looked to have the car to beat in the NASCAR All-Star Race, whether the No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse was in the lead or battling for the lead against another driver.
The Middletown, Connecticut-native led a race-high 139 of 250 laps around the iconic short track of North Wilkesboro Speedway, but when it came time to cash the $1 million check awarded to the winner of the exhibition event, the Team Penske driver’s card was declined.
No matter the circumstances, when somebody loses out on a potential seven-figure payout, they are going to be upset about it. However, the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is leaving the 0.620-mile short track with steam pouring out of his heat like a teapot.
“I’m pissed off right now. Just dang it, we had the fastest car. The Shell-Pennzoil Mustang was fast. I’m trying to choose my words correctly on the caution situation,” Logano said. “Obviously, I got bit by it, so I am the one frustrated.”
With about 33 laps remaining in the 250-lap contest, Logano was leading the event over Christopher Bell when the decision was made to throw the Promoter’s Caution – an added element to the All-Star Race that allows Marcus Smith to throw a caution at any point between Lap 100 and Lap 220.
“I’m all about no gimmicks with the caution,” Logano added. “I am all about that. I’m a little – me and Marcus Smith aren’t seeing eye to eye right now. I’ve got to have a word with him.”
Things were destined to receive a shakeup, as the field had been walking the tightrope between needing track position and needing fresh Goodyear tires throughout the entire weekend. Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe, chose to stay out.
Christopher Bell, his closest competitor, came to pit road for two tires at the advisement of crew chief Adam Stevens, which left the No. 20 outside the top-five on a late-race restart. While the track position was thought to be too big an obstacle to overcome, Bell shot forward and immediately challenged Logano.
After multiple laps of setting up Logano, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver decided that enough was enough, running the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang up the racetrack, and shooting to the inside to take the lead of the race, and eventually the win.
With the anger already associated with the Promoter’s Caution, Logano also didn’t believe that Bell’s move for the race win was totally fair and was quite adamant about his frustration in that move post-race.
“I did all I could do to hold him off, and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option,” Logano said about the late race move from Bell. “Kind of just ran me up into the wall, and if I could’ve got to him, he was going around after a move like that. I just couldn’t get back to him.”
Logano, after losing out on a $1 million paycheck, says that he plans to race Christopher Bell in the same exact manner in which he raced the driver of the No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse on Sunday night at North Wilkesboro.
“I just race him the same way. That’s all it is,” Logano said. “Like I said, we’re racing for a million dollars. I get it, but we race each other every week and we’re like elephants, we don’t forget anything.”
