For his first act as a NASCAR All-Star Race champion, Christopher Bell chose to praise the revitalized 78-year-old racetrack that delivered a memorable night of racing.

“Let’s go!” Bell shouted to roaring approval from a capacity crowd of 25,000 as he made the case Sunday night during his frontstretch celebration that North Wilkesboro Speedway was due a Cup Series points race.

“The best short track in NASCAR,” Bell said. “It is absolutely incredible. It’s just going to get better and better. Man, that was an amazing race.”

In its third edition as host of the $1-million exhibition event, the speedway produced All-Star Race records for lead changes (18) and green-flag passes for the lead (59) as its remarkable rebirth continued from a dilapidated and rotting hulk just three years ago.

Speedway Motorsports announced grandstand seating and premium hospitality were sold out for the 41st All-Star Race, which drew fans from 43 states and nine countries to North Wilkesboro, which is 80 miles north of Charlotte. SMI president and CEO Marcus Smith proclaimed “like Lambeau Field to football and Fenway Park to baseball, North Wilkesboro Speedway has become America’s throwback racetrack.”

Bell was among several drivers who say the short track deserves its first Cup Series points race in 30 years when NASCAR releases its 2026 schedule, which is expected in a few months.

“I don’t see why not,” seven-time most popular driver winner Chase Elliott said about the possibility after finishing fifth. “I think it’s plenty capable of hosting, and obviously, the crowd seems extremely receptive to the idea, too. Whatever NASCAR decides on that, I’m good with. It put on a good race for sure, so it’s hard to argue against that.”

Aside from a smattering of minor-league races in 2010-11, North Wilkesboro Speedway had sat dormant since Jeff Gordon won its most recent Cup race Sept. 29, 1996. A $20-million renovation (spurred by federal funding from the American Rescue Plan) began in 2022 and led to being awarded the 2023 All-Star Race.

Its first two All-Star Races were lackluster, but North Wilkesboro’s racing came to life Sunday. The 0.625-mile oval’s surface has widened into multiple lanes since a repaving last year, and Sunday’s race featured 1,426 green-flag passes that electrified the jammed grandstands.

“Man, they show up,” Bell said. “We go out for driver intros, and the place was packed. It’s just bumping. We need more events like this.”

Joe Gibbs, whose team scored its third All-Star Race victory with Bell joining previous winners Kyle Busch in 2015 and Denny Hamlin in 2017, credited Smith and support from the community for putting the track in line for points race consideration.

“I won’t be making that decision,” Gibbs said. “But I think the way this race turned out and the crowd and everything, that’ll have a lot to do with it.”

Budding rivalry

Already sour about a “Promoter’s Caution” that erased his late lead and left him vulnerable on older tires, runner-up Joey Logano took issue with Bell’s winning pass in the No. 20 Toyota. After the drivers made contact that squeezed his No. 22 Ford into the outside wall with nine laps remaining, Logano vowed retaliation if he’d been able to catch Bell.

“I did all I could do to hold him off, and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option,” said Logano, who led a race-high 139-of-250 laps. “If I could’ve got to him, he was going around after a move like that. I just couldn’t get back to him. Just frustrated after you lead so many laps, and the car is so fast, and you don’t win. It hurts quite a bit.”

“I had got to him a couple times before, and he made it very difficult on me, as he should,” Bell said. “I got my run, and I took the moment, as I should. I don’t think that I did anything that Joey has not done, and I’ve seen Joey do much worse. We will continue on.”

Notable

With top-five finishes by Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott, Chevrolet beat Ford and Toyota to win the All-Star Race’s first “Manufacturer’s Showdown” that was based on the combined results for each automaker. … Jon Edwards, the former PR rep for Kyle Larson who died last month, was honored with “The Byrnsie Award” that is voted on by Fox’s NASCAR broadcast team in tribute to late broadcaster Steve Byrnes. Fox has presented the award since 2016 to celebrate those who embody Byrnes’ principles of preparation, teamwork and family.

Memorial Day weekend is upon us, which means all three of NASCAR’s national series will be in action at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The three-race weekend will culminate with one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ crown-jewel events, the Coca-Cola 600.

Here’s who’s entered this weekend.

The Coca-Cola 600 will be held on Sunday, May 25, at 6 p.m. ET. Amazon Prime will handle the TV coverage for NASCAR’s longest night.

Forty teams are entered, meaning that everyone will make the show, barring any entry list changes.

The NY Racing Team No. 44 will make the trip to Charlotte, but the driver has yet to be announced.

Josh Bilicki makes his return to Cup action in the No. 66 for Garage 66.

Jimmie Johnson will make his 700th Cup start in the No. 84 for Legacy Motor Club.

Trackhouse Racing’s No. 87 makes a return with Connor Zilisch behind the wheel. This will be his second start in the series.

After a two-week hiatus, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action. The BetMGM 300 will run on Saturday, May 24, at 4:30 p.m. ET via The CW.

There are 40 entries listed, meaning two teams will head home following qualifying, unless there are any entry list changes.

The Richard Childress Racing No. 3 returns to the Xinifty Series with Austin Dillon behind the wheel. This is Dillon’s first start in the series this year if he makes the show.

William Byron will drive the No. 17 for Hendrick Motorsports.

Chase Briscoe will make his first Xfinity start of the year in the No. 19 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Carson Ware will drive the No. 35 for Joey Gase Motorsports. The team’s No. 53 is also entered, but a driver has not yet been announced.

Brad Perez will drive the No. 45 for Alpha Prime Racing.

Zilisch returns from injury to pilot the No. 88 for JR Motorsports.

CJ McLaughlin will drive the No. 91 for DGM Racing.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will contest the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 on Friday, May 23, at 8:30 p.m. ET, on FOX Sports 1.

There are 34 trucks entered, meaning everyone makes the show after qualifying, barring any entry list changes.

Brandon Jones is back in the No. 1 for Tricon Garage.

Stefan Parsons will drive the No. 02 for Young’s Motorsports.

The No. 2 for Reaume Brothers Racing will be driven by Cody Dennison, while Mason Maggio will pilot the No. 22.

BJ McLeod will make his first truck start this season in the No. 07 for Spire Motorsports, while Kyle Busch is back in the team’s No. 7.

Niece Motorsports’ No. 44 will have Ross Chastain at the helm.

Timmy Hill will make his 500th NASCAR start in the No. 56 for Hill Motorsports.

Luke Fenhaus takes over the No. 66 for ThorSport Racing.

Justin Carroll will drive the No. 90 for Terry Carroll Motorsports.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A day after finishing second in the All-Star Race and being critical of how Christopher Bell raced him for the win, Joey Logano told NBC Sports that how Bell drove him “wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.”

Bell and Logano dueled much of the final 20 laps Sunday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Logano blocked Bell and tried to take his lane away while Bell worked to get by. Bell made a second attempt and eventually moved Logano up the track and took the lead with 10 laps to go. Bell went on to win his first All-Star Race.

After the race, Logano expressed his displeasure with Bell’s move.

“I did all I could do to hold him off and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option,” Logano told FS1. “Kind of just ran me up into the wall, and if I could’ve got to him, he was going around after a move like that, I just couldn’t get back to him.”

Christopher Bell has won five points races and the All-Star Race since last year’s Coca-Cola 600.

Monday, before a ceremony by the mayor of Mooresville and Town Board honoring the teams of Logano and Ryan Blaney for winning the last three Cup titles, Logano admitted he had a different take on how Bell raced him in those final laps.

“When I went back and re-watched it, I was like, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it was,” Logano told NBC Sports. “If he did that (move Logano up the track) the first time he got to me, I’d be like, ‘Dude, why would you do that?’

“But he made solid attempts to pass me. I ran him all up and down the racetrack. So I opened the door. Like at that point, I opened the door (to more aggressive racing). I had to do that to try to maintain the lead.

“But it also to me, it was like, OK, well, if you’re willing to do that, you should be able to move that person up the racetrack. Then I should have been able to get back at him.

“I set the tone that we’re going to race like assholes. It’s OK that he did that to me. But in the moment you’re just pissed, right? You’re just like, ‘He ran me up the track.’ Then when I watched it, I was like, ‘Nah, it’s probably warranted.’

“So, I shouldn’t have said that (after the race). You’re mad. It is what it is. He knocked me up and then moved me up. Would I have done the same? Probably. Especially after someone ran me all over the racetrack like I did, I probably would have done the same.

“I’m a really bad loser. I’m a sore loser. I can’t help it. It is who I am, but I think that’s also what makes us winners.”

An 18-hole Bunkers & Bumps-style course was recently designed and installed by Adventure Golf & Sports (AGS) on property owned by the NOLA Motorsports Park on the outskirts of New Orleans in Avondale, Louisiana. The park plans to brand the mini golf course along with oversized yard games, arcade games, a future craft pizza kitchen and sports bar + coffee bar along with existing Go-Karting as “Throttle & Swing” – and promote it as a new FEC adjacent to the automotive racetrack.

When David Pace, CEO of NOLA Motorsports, arrived in 2020, there was a Go Kart track on a piece of property that added some value to the racetrack and was doing well financially. “But it needed something else to add to it,” says Pace. “Driving 20 minutes to half an hour just to spend eight minutes on Go Karts and then you’re done and you’re like ‘what else is there to do?’ I had to figure out what was the best piece to add to it. After spending some time doing a lot of research, visiting a lot of places, going to IAAPA [Expo] and also spending some time with the locals doing surveys, ‘mini golf’ came up more than one time. So that’s what drove me down this route and I knew from my research, seeing what PopStroke has done with Tiger Woods, that that was the new fad.

“The newest, hottest site out there is a mini golf course that looks like a real course, not something with windmills and animation. So that’s kind of why we went this route. And after meeting with AGS at IAAPA and talking to a couple different places, I realized they had the ability and seemed like the best group for us to head down this path.”

According to AGS, the Bunkers & Bumps-style mini golf course they designed and installed over the top of a portion of a huge asphalt parking lot adjacent to the motorsports park is an eco-friendly, miniaturized professional-looking golf course using interlocking, patented, permeable panels. “We had to do some site work prior to them getting here,” says Pace. “We just had to create a drainage field underneath and cover it with a layer of sand. Then we turned it over to them.” AGS used various layers and permeable turf to cover the panels, creating slopes, rolling terrain and faux sand bunkers. Unlike traditional mini golf that often uses bricks, walls, obstacles and theme elements for boundaries, Bunkers & Bumps relies on various terrain designs and rough turf to shape holes.

AGS used 75,000 pounds of recycled rubber to create elevation changes on the course, with some of the hole elevations changing three to five feet. “It’s quite a challenging course,” says Dustin Tandy, the AGS crew supervisor of the installation. “Players really need skill to read the greens.”

“It’s an 18-hole miniature golf course offering families a fun experience,” says Pace. “It’s larger than most 18-hole miniature golf courses and it’s got two cups per hole and one of them is always plugged, so we’re able to make it so that the experience is never the same. We can rotate the holes that are plugged or unplugged anytime we want.

“[AGS] did a really good job. There was a lot of ad-lib where we had to move away from the actual drawing and use the landscaping as it falls and be creative. They did a good job with that. My sales contact and all the office staff were great to work with as well.”