Bell made a million-dollar move on Joey Logano in Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race and emerged victorious in North Wilkesboro’s most exciting All-Star finishes to date.
Logano led a race-high 139 of 250 laps and was poised to score his second straight All-Star win – but unlike Bell, Logano opted to stay out when the race’s final caution period──the Promoter’s Caution──came out with 35 laps to go. Bell took on new right-side tires, flew through the front-running cars quickly and engaged in a hotly contested duel with Logano for the $1 million prize.
Bell relied on his superior grip and, after diving below Logano in Turn 2 with nine laps to go, took the lead with intended contact. Bell’s Toyota slid up the track in Turn 3 and forced Logano toward the wall. Logano had to lift, and Bell took the lead, beating Logano to the line by 0.829 seconds. His victory was JGR’s first All-Star Race win since Kyle Busch in 2017.
Logano, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five, with Logano expressing his sincere displeasure with Bell’s aggression and with the Promoter’s Caution──something he referred to as ‘gimmicky’ during his post race interview. Considering the decision to stay out on old tires, it’s surprising he finished as high as he did, especially given what we witnessed earlier in the evening with old tires and just 2 new tires causing cars to sink like a stone.
Pole winner Brad Keselowski led 62 of the race’s first 64 laps but crashed after hitting the Turn 3 wall and ended up 22nd. Kyle Larson── who won North Wilkesboro’s first All-Star Race in 2023──led five laps before he made contact with the Turn 2 wall on Lap 215 and finished 21st.
Carson Hocevar won the open race, with John Hunter Nemechek placing second. This secured both of their places in the main event. Noah Gragson won the Fan Vote and joined the main event as well, despite suffering steering issues during the open.
Sunday’s 250-lap event featured an All-Star Race-record 18 lead changes among eight drivers. The night also offered positives for each of NASCAR’s three manufacturers. Bell’s Toyota won the race, Logano’s Ford led the most laps and posted a record 11th straight All-Star Top 10, and Chevrolet── by virtue of having the best finishes among its top five cars── won the first Manufacturer’s Showdown.
There was also a lot of talk of returning to North Wilkesboro, from pit reporters to race commentators to drivers, almost foreshadowing that the short track, at some point in the future, will be included on the schedule.
Photo Credit: NORTH WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – MAY 18: Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Mobil 1 Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 18, 2025 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)