Who… should you be talking about after the race?
A lot of people will be talking about the tires at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but that’s a bit of a distraction from what fans should have seen: Ford teams have found something. After a lackluster start to 2014, the blue ovals has come around. Joey Logano had the fastest lap in qualifying and led all but one lap (which happened during pit stops and was led by Brad Keselowski) in a dominant performance to win the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race.
Logano was challenged by Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney and held them all off, cruising to the million-dollar prize. It’s the first time this season that Logano has had momentum on his side. How that carries forward remains to be seen, but if Logano can put together a strong, consistent summer, his hopes for a third title aren’t dashed yet.
You’ll also be talking about Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Early in the All-Star main event, Stenhouse and Busch made what appeared to be incidental contact which caused Busch to bounce off the outside wall. Busch went after Stenhouse on track and ended the day for the No. 47 after Stenhouse slammed the wall. Stenhouse vowed to wait for Busch after the race.
North Wilkesboro doesn’t have a pedestrian tunnel, so the only way out of the infield is a gate on the backstretch. Since Stenhouse couldn’t leave, he was left to stew, and after the race, he was indeed waiting for Busch. The two jawed at one another before Stenhouse threw a punch.
Stenhouse’s father and crewmen from both teams joined the fray, which resulted in both drivers falling to the ground. Stenhouse fired one more shot at Busch in his interview afterwards, saying Busch was frustrated because “he’s not as good as he used to be.” Busch declined comment.
It’ll be worth keeping an eye on the pair in the coming weeks just to see if it’s over or if things boil back up.
What… is the big question leaving this race in the rearview?
NASCAR brought two different tire compounds to North Wilkesboro in hopes of seeing a difference in the racing. One was a harder compound similar to what we’ve seen at most short or flat-track races this year, designed to hold up over a longer run. The other was a softer compound, designed to create faster laps for a short amount of time, similar to the primary tire used in Bristol last month.
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