Joey Logano’s million-dollar All-Star win a first in NASCAR in over 3 decades
Joey Logano's recent win at North Wilkesboro Speedway was his second NASCAR All-Star Race victory. However, what made it stand out was that the triumph involved a feat that nobody has been able to replicate in over 30 years.
Joey Logano's record-setting performance for the most laps led was the first such display in the 40-year history of the event. Starting the race from the pole and finishing ahead of runner-up Denny Hamlin by 0.636 seconds, the driver led all but one of the laps in the race. Only one other driver has achieved that in the past 30 years, with a lower number of total laps in the race.
A recent post on X by Trey Ryan, a user known for remarkable race insights, reads,
"Joey Logano led 199/200 laps in the 2024 All-Star Race en route to victory. This was the most dominant All-Star performance since Davey Allison led all 70 laps in 1991."
Logano's win was also the fifth for Team Penske, a race team that has previously won the All-Star Race with Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Ryan Blaney. The last two wins for the team in this event, including the latest on Sunday, have been registered by Joey Logano.
“A lot of fun when you’ve got a car this fast,” Logano told NASCAR during a post-race interview. "The Shell/Pennzoil Mustang, it’s just so great to get in Victory Lane. All of our sponsors and everyone who stuck with us to get a win, it feels nice. It’s been a while. I wish it was for points, but a million bucks is still a lot of money, and I feel great about that.”
Logano won his first All-Star event in 2016. Although this famous exhibition race does not pay in points, it does come with a hefty cash prize of $1 million. Moreover, it was also his first win of 2024 and the second straight victory for Ford.
Joey Logano's most dominant wins in NASCAR history
Joey Logano is one of the biggest names in the NASCAR Cup Series arena. He has 32 Cup wins under his belt, including the 2015 Daytona 500, another 30 wins in the Xfinity Series and two in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Logano won the prestigious Sunoco Rookie of the Year title in 2009. He won his first Cup Series race behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota the same year and became the youngest driver ever to win a Cup Series race at a little over 19 years of age.
After that, Logano went three years without a win before returning to victory lane at Pocono, holding off Mark Martin by 0.997 seconds. The driver made history in 2021 by earning a win on the dirt track of Bristol Motor Speedway. That day, he became the first driver in the Cup Series to win a NASCAR dirt race since 1970. The following year, Logano won his second Cup Series championship and his first title with the NextGen car at Phoenix Raceway.
Today, Logano is 17th on the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 292 points and 79 points behind his teammate and reigning Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney.