Joey Logano Ecstatic After “Wildly Impressive” North Wilkesboro Triumph

The NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday witnessed Team Penske Racing’s Joey Logano proving to the garage why he is a three times Cup champion, as he won the North Wilkesboro race, earning an impressive 73 points. It marked the end of his 45-race winless streak and earned him enough points to get into the last-16 on the table.

He was really excited about getting in the victory lane, in what was the best short track racing event of the season and finally find a positive in the tough 2026 season. The No:22 Ford Mustang driver ended the day with single-race career-best 323 laps on the lead and became the first driver to win a point-paying race at the track in 30 years.

It’s good to get back into Victory Lane. It’s been a tough year, so getting the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang doing some big, smoky doughnuts around this place felt really good.

Joey Logano said after the race.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who finished the race at P2; 0.859s behind, was really happy about his ex-teammate Joey Logano’s performance and didn’t refuse to praise him post-race. He highlighted how the Team Penske executed really well to win the race and how the racer deserves a lot of credit for it.

It was wildly impressive. We got our car pretty good, enough to keep him honest but every time I’d get close, I’d heat the tires and he’d pull away … Just a really impressive run by him and his team.

Denny Hamlin said about the race winner.

Denny Hamlin's the runner-up and compliments Joey Logano:

"It was wildly impressive. We got our car pretty good, enough to keep him honest but every time I'd get close I'd heat the tires and he'd pull away … Just a really impressive run by him and his team."

— PRN (@PRNlive) July 20, 2026

Joey Logano felt real pressure From Denny Hamlin at the end

Talking more about his impressive day, Logano highlighted the key role played by his long-time crew chief Paul Wolfe. The veteran highlighted how the team fielded a strong car under his leadership and how a solid strategy helped them to maximize points earning.

[Crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] put together a good car. I think I know exactly what I need to go fast around this place. He’s able to give it to me. I knew coming into this weekend, we’ve got to capitalize on the points. A win was great, but we really need the points. Really capitalized on those tonight.

Joey Logano said.

Further, he also talked about how Hamlin also stole the victory from him as in the last laps the No:11 Toyota was really strong and kept the No:22 honest. The JGR driver was better in the last stint, but the having the lead Logano enough advantage to finish the race at P1.

Yeah, the pressure was there, for sure. Denny got really good there the last run. Honestly, it was whoever was out front was going to win the race. We were pretty dominant. But as the race went along, Denny got better at the last run. Just did a decent job keeping up with the track. They did a good job keeping up.

Joey Logano added.

The comments from the veteran drivers shows how much the race meant for him and how Hamlin almost ruined the moment. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the veterans in the upcoming races of the season.

Also Read: Joey Logano Reveals How Making Cup Debut at 18 ‘Broke His Career’