New promoter’s caution impacts NASCAR All-Star Race finish at North Wilkesboro
A novel concept played a factor in the outcome of the NASCAR All-Star Race.
Speedway Motorsports introduced the “promoter’s caution” for Sunday night’s main event at North Wilkesboro, where officials had the option to wave the yellow flag without cause before the 220th lap of the 250-lap race.
Doing the honors was Michael Waltrip, the 1996 All-Star Race winner at Charlotte and NASCAR on FOX broadcaster. The 33-year Cup Series veteran called for the caution on Lap 216 — and inadvertently dropped the yellow flag onto the racetrack.
This ended up being the final time the pack was bunched together in Christopher Bell’s victory.
Joey Logano, who led a field-best 139 laps, opted to stay out during that pit cycle under caution. Bell pitted for two fresher tires and bolted past Logano from the inside lane with nine laps remaining.
“I’m going to race (Bell) the same way,” Logano said. “I mean, we’re racing for $1 million — I get it — but we race each other every week.”
Bell called North Wilkesboro the best short track in NASCAR. Logano’s thoughts?
“With a gimmick caution, yeah, sure.”
NASCAR history is all over North Wilkesboro
Whenever Ross Chastain drives to North Wilkesboro, the NASCAR driver gets off Interstate 77 early.
Returning to the revamped speedway is always special for Chastain, who grew up in Florida and pilots the No. 1 Chevy for Trackhouse Racing. He always takes the back roads south of U.S. Highway 421, and it means a lot seeing the farmland with the backdrop of the Wilkes County foothills.
Chastain has long known the Parsons family. But he never met Benny, who was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame eight years ago and has the grandstands in between Turns 1 and 2 at North Wilkesboro named in his honor.
“Seeing that grandstand is really cool,” Chastain said after recording a third-place finish behind Bell and Logano in Sunday night’s race. “That’s something that I don’t know how much it gets talked about, but (Benny Parsons) was such a legend in our sport. Somebody I watched growing up — he was done racing, but I remember seeing videos of him, even in the booth.”
New concept increases on-track action in All-Star Race
Sunday night’s race produced 18 lead changes, shattering the past record set in the event nine years ago.
The previous two All-Star Races at North Wilkesboro saw dominance from Kyle Larson and Logano, respectively, while there was significantly more on-track action this year.
Terri Parsons, the widow of Benny, once made it her mission to bring NASCAR back to North Wilkesboro. There was another packed house in the third consecutive return to the revamped racetrack, and the on-track product followed up the excitement.
The final result came down to that promoter’s caution.
Bell felt he was focused on trying to close the gap with Logano on the long run, and the racetrack allowed for pace on both the inside and outside lanes. Once that final yellow flag had fallen to the surface and Logano stayed away from pit road, it became Bell’s race.
“I wasn’t worried about the yellow flag at all,” Bell said. “I was trying to size (Logano) up for the long run and try and pass him in the closing laps, and then whenever the yellow came out, you just never know how it’s going to play out.
“I very easily could have lost the race. Joey did lose the race. It could have gone to any of us in the top five or six. I’m thankful that it went the way it did, obviously, and Adam (Stevens) made a great call to pit and put me on offense and it allowed me to be the aggressor.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "New promoter’s caution impacts NASCAR All-Star Race finish at North Wilkesboro."
