That's Just Short Track Racin'
Window World 450: Joey Logano won the Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro Speedway Sunday night in an epic, dominating fashion. Logano won stage two and led 323 of the night's 450 laps en route to his first victory in the 2026 campaign. It was Logano's 38th career Cup Series win, and the second straight win for Team Penske.
It was nice to be back in North Wilkesboro for a points race, and the race played out in quintessential, old-school Wilkesboro fashion. While Logano delivered a lashing on the field, there was still plenty of action around the track. Multi-groove racing with drivers able to get through the field provided ample side-by-side racing and intense battles throughout. The few cautions for cause provided opportunities for differing strategy and jumbled up the field. An untimely caution for many happened when Bowman turned down across Reddick's nose trying to come to pit road putting both drivers in a spin cycle on the back stretch. Track-position-wise, this did end the day for a smattering of drivers who were caught a lap down, and a number of drivers fell back into the clutches of Logano as he destroyed the field, causing them to finish two or more laps down. Aside from those few cautions in stages one and two, the race was mundane up front and did not deliver some of the beating and banging I was expecting. However, after watching a few North Wilkesboro races in the weeks leading up to NASCAR's return for a points race, it felt just like one of the classic beatings drivers like Earnhardt, Waltrip, Labonte, and anyone who drove for Junior Johnson. So while we may not have had a barn burner and wreckfest, we did have a classic NASCAR race. Decent battles throughout, a few bent fenders and hurt feelings, but it was capped off by an old-school ass-whipping from the winner. And Logano did just that by beating the field into submission most of the night. His win did not come easy, as stage three was all about track position and strategy. But the 22 Mustang Darkhorse for Team Penske was the class of the field, and Paul Wolfe nailed the strategy by jumping to pit road one lap after the 11 car. From there, it was Logano v a hard-charging Hamlin. On this night, Hamlin was no match for Logano as Logano was a master of the track, navigated lap traffic, and capped off his dominating night with a massive, track-long burnout with his son riding shotgun. While Logano has been a back-half of the top-15 car most of the year, Sunday night proved he's still a badass behind the wheel who cannot be taken lightly as we approach the Chase.
Next up, NASCAR heads to Indianapolis with all three national touring-level series in action this weekend across the city. The Craftsman Truck Series takes on Lucas Oil Raceway on Friday night on FS1 at 8 p.m. with the TSport 200. The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series takes on Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon on The CW at 4 p.m. EST with the Pennzoil 250. The Cup Series tackles the big track as well this weekend on Sunday afternoon on TNT at 2 p.m. EST with the Brickyard 400.
Indianapolis Picks: Trucks = Layne Riggs
NOAPS = Ross Chastain
Cup = Bubba Wallace
Cup: In-Season Tournament Challenge Pick = Todd Gilliland
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