Christopher Bell Battles to First Win in NASCAR All-Star Race

Christopher Bell added the NASCAR All-Star Race to his resumé on Sunday night, surging to the victory with a late-race charge at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Bell took the lead with 10 laps to go, passing Joey Logano to take the lead and pull away for his first victory in the non-points exhibition paying $1 million to the winner.

After the dramatic conclusion, a jubilant Bell celebrated on the frontstretch in front of the packed grandstands at North Wilkesboro.

"That right there is absolutely incredible," said Bell. "North Wilkesboro, best short track on the schedule."

Race Results: 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro

The pivotal moment of the race came on lap 217 with one of the new wrinkles for this year's event, the Promoter's Caution. With 1996 All-Star Race winner Michael Waltrip in the flagstand to do the honors, the caution was displayed with 33 laps to go.

Logano led the race at that stage, and stayed out under the caution along with second-place Ryan Blaney. However, much of the field, pitted, including Bell taking two tires.

A quick pit stop from Bell's Joe Gibbs Racing crew put him in position to take advantage of the two tires, quickly working his way around most of the drivers who did not pit. After several laps of fierce battling, Bell muscled his way past Logano for the victory.

"Man, they're the best," Bell said of his team. "There's nothing else to say. This sport can be humbling. Behind the wheel, you're just a small part of success. These boys right here, Adam Stevens on the pit box, all the mechanics, all the engineers that put this thing together, they're the big picture. I'm the guy that gets to sit up here and talk to you and take pictures. Without them, I'm nobody. I owe it all to these guys."

While Bell won, a frustrated Logano finished second. The Connecticut driver led 139 of the race's 250 laps, but could not hold off Bell on his fresher tires in the closing laps.

Logano expressed his frustration with both the Promoter's Caution and how Bell raced him in the battle for the win.

"We had the fastest car. The Shell Pennzoil Mustang was so fast," said Logano. "I'm trying to choose my words correctly on the caution situation. Obviously, I got bit by it, so I'm the one frustrated. Gosh, I don't know.

"I felt the fall-off wasn't too bad as the sun went down and we had six cars stay out with us. I thought maybe we could hold them off. The 20 had a good enough restart to clear too many of them too fast. I couldn't get away in time. It took me six or seven laps to get my car up and rolling again.

"I did all I could to hold him off. He got under me, released the brake, gave me no option. He just kind of ran me up into the wall. If I could have gotten to him, he was going around after a move like that. I just couldn't get back to him. Too much to try to make up with the tire deficit.

"It's frustrating. When you lead so many laps and the car is so fast and you don't win, it hurts quite a bit."

Ross Chastain, who also figured into the fight for the win late in the race but couldn't pull alongside Logano or Bell, finished third. Alex Bowman crossed the line fourth, with Chase Elliott rounding out the top five.

Brad Keselowski started on the pole for the All-Star Race following a strong weekend, including the pole run in Friday's qualifying session and a heat race win on Saturday. The Rochester Hills, Michigan driver led 62 of the race's first 63 laps.

However, he was involved in an incident on lap 177 and made hard contact with the outside wall in turns three and four.

Another new element of this year's All-Star Race was the Manufacturer Showdown, pitting five drivers each from Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota against each other. With five of the top eight finishers, Chevrolet claimed the first Manufacturer Showdown victory.

Carson Hocevar, the winner of the All-Star Open to race his way into the All-Star Race, finished 11th. Noah Gragson, winner of the Fan Vote, took advantage of that title to finish 13th.

Next week, the NASCAR Cup Series contests one of its crown jewel events, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The green flag waves at 6 p.m. ET, with coverage on Prime Video, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-Photo credit: Rusty Jarrett, LUMEN for Toyota Gazoo Racing