Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday night, taking his first win of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season and doing it in emphatic fashion. He led 323 of the 450 laps and held off Denny Hamlin for the victory.
For the people searching who won the nascar race yesterday, that was the answer. Logano’s win came in the first North Wilkesboro points race in 30 years, a return that gave the result extra weight even before the final laps were settled. He and Hamlin were two of only six drivers to finish on the lead lap, and Logano’s pace left little doubt about who controlled the race from the front.
Todd Gilliland was living his own version of the night. He finished eighth as the No. 25 seed and knocked out Chase Elliott, who ended up 17th, while Ryan Blaney finished 11th and moved on by finishing eight places ahead of Christopher Bell. Those results sent Gilliland and Blaney into the final of the NASCAR In-Season Challenge, even as Logano was collecting the race trophy.
That is the wrinkle in the story. Logano won the race, but the In-Season Challenge title will be decided next Sunday at Indianapolis, where Gilliland and Blaney will be racing for the higher finish and the $1 million prize. The winner there will not be the driver who dominated North Wilkesboro; it will be the one who comes out ahead in one final head-to-head finish.
The timing matters, too. Only five races remain until the start of The Chase, so every strong result carries extra value this late in the season. Logano got the victory he needed, but Gilliland and Blaney still have something larger on the line next Sunday, and that makes Indianapolis the next stop anyone following this race will want to watch closely.
