NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Joey Logano resurrected his once-fading Chase for the Cup hopes with a vintage performance Sunday night, leading a career-high 323 laps to score his first NASCAR victory since May 2025.Fittingly, it came at a vintage racetrack that itself was resurrected.North Wilkesboro Speedway last hosted a Cup Series points race in 1996, then was left for dead for decades. Its buildings crumbled, the facility became decrepit, and weeds grew through the racetrack surface.But there was NASCAR on Sunday night, improbably holding a points race again in front of a sold-out crowd — and with Logano winning in the most old-school of ways.Just six cars finished on the lead lap, and even 11th place was two laps down. The only compelling battle up front was between Logano and Denny Hamlin, who finished runner-up by 0.8 second after doggedly pursuing Logano’s No. 22 for the entire last 175 laps of the race.Yet it was Logano who ultimately prevailed and moved himself back into a Chase position with five races remaining until NASCAR’s postseason begins.“Wildly impressive,” Hamlin said of Logano’s performance. “We got our car pretty good, enough to keep them honest there. But man, just every time I’d get close, I’d heat the tires up, and he’d pull back away. Just a really impressive run by him and his team.”Hamlin’s strong second-place finish was a setback for the two drivers competing with him for the points lead — particularly Tyler Reddick, who finished 30th after a collision with Alex Bowman on Lap 183.Reddick had moved up the track to give Noah Gragson room after Gragson was exiting pit road, but Bowman was suddenly called to the pits and tried cutting down from the top lane.Unfortunately for both drivers, Reddick was already there and was clobbered by Bowman. Reddick spun, and his No. 45 team diagnosed a bent tie rod, which he had to endure for the rest of the night.Reddick is now 68 points behind Hamlin, giving Hamlin a major advantage unless something goes wrong.The other driver chasing Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, also slipped further behind. He started from the rear because of a power steering pump that needed to be changed and eventually climbed his way to fourth place but was tagged with a speeding penalty with 84 laps to go.Blaney finished 11th and fell to 87 points behind Hamlin, leaving him in a major deficit.Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs finished 2-3-4, but the big surprise of the night was New Zealand’s Shane van Gisbergen in fifth.Van Gisbergen, a road course specialist for Trackhouse Racing, led 49 laps during the evening and proved he is a real threat to make the Chase himself — although even he seemed surprised after taking the lead at a short track oval.“I’m leading — what the f— do I do now?” he asked his team on the radio.As Logano moved into the Chase, Erik Jones tumbled out after finishing 21st. The Brickyard 400 is next week, followed by NASCAR’s final off weekend of the season.Overall, it was a lively atmosphere at a racetrack once left for dead. The grandstands were packed, the crowd enthusiastic, and after 30 long years, NASCAR had righted a wrong by again holding a points race on one of its most historical tracks.NASCAR had held its exhibition All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro beginning in 2023, but bringing an actual points race back to the track made for a special night; it was exactly the kind of atmosphere befitting a revival.That Sunday’s race wasn’t a barnburner mattered little. If anything, it had an appropriate old-school feel similar to how so many races here of yesteryear unfolded. The big takeaway is not who won and what it means in the big picture, but that North Wilkesboro is indeed back.And what a treat it was to see NASCAR racing again at North Wilkesboro, a near-universal sentiment expressed by so many throughout the weekend. Because not too long ago, the prevailing notion was it would never see a car on its track again.Meanwhile, the final for NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge bracket is set — and there wasn’t much drama involved.Blaney easily bested Christopher Bell, who was three laps down in 19th place, and underdog Todd Gilliland upset Chase Elliott by finishing eighth (and Elliott finished 17th after the untimely caution caused by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Bowman).“We’re big underdogs, and we’ll see, but now one person (left to go against),” Gilliland said. “Anything could happen; (Blaney’s) engine could blow up Lap 1. But it’s just crazy when you’re racing one person. Really, anything can happen, and I’m excited about it.“I would probably rather not be the underdog because you’re the guy that’s actually running good consistently, but maybe one day. We’ll take the underdog position for now and hopefully won’t be it forever.”