Joey Logano crew chief admits team 'missed that call' to not pit late in All-Star Race

Last night, when the promoter’s caution flew, Joey Logano’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, made the call to stay out instead of pitting. That ended up being the nail in the coffin for the 22 team’s hopes of winning the $1,000,000 prize. Christopher Bell went on to win the NASCAR All-Star Race.

Joey Logano was not happy after the race last night. He called out the promoter’s caution as well as the way Christopher Bell raced him to get the lead. He went as far as to say he would have put Bell “around after a move like that.”

Sour grapes or valid criticism? Hard to tell. Perhaps none of it would have mattered if Logano had just gone down pit road and taken two tires. Instead, Logano and his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney stayed out, along with a few others. It didn’t work out for anyone.

Paul Wolfe talked to Frontstretch after the race. The crew chief knew where they had messed up.

“Well, it just comes down to trying to decide how many guys are going to stay with you,” Wolfe explained. “Which, obviously, hindsight’s 20/20, and to your point, we had the best car and we didn’t race. So, missed that call, you know. And the cars that did stay with us, our teammate being one of them, he had an issue off [Turn] 4 there and got sideways.

“So, really, the 20 just never had to race anybody much. He got to us too quick, and Joey drove his butt off to hold him off. You know, he used us up here to get by us, and Joey couldn’t get back to his bumper. So, you know, frustrating because second-place doesn’t really mean anything tonight, it’s all about winning, and we just missed the mark a little bit.”

There was contact between Joey Logano and Christopher Bell. There definitely was. But when it comes to short track racing, when it comes to All-Star racing, that was as clean as it gets. Especially in the Next Gen car when passing comes at a premium most of the time.

North Wilkesboro gave us the first multi-groove short track race since New Hampshire last year, with the wet weather tires on the cars. It is the first multi-groove short track race in normal conditions since…I’m not sure when. Gen 6?

What we learned last night is that North Wilkesboro is ready to take on a full points race for the Cup Series. After what we saw last night, I am willing to bet an Xfinity Series race at Wilkesboro would be nothing short of electric. And keep the Cup race at night. The atmosphere is on another level.

Joey Logano wasn’t happy with how things played out, but it was a fun night. That was the best All-Star Race we have seen, regardless of track, in years. Side-by-side action from the start, enough wrecks and mechanical problems to keep it interesting.

Hot take incoming, Michael Waltrip added a healthy dose of fun and goofiness. It is the All-Star Race, it doesn’t have to be as serious as a regular points race. I was skeptical of the promoter’s caution, but they probably used it in the best way possible.