By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
NASCAR Cup drivers gear up for return to points racing at North Wilkesboro
For the first time since 1996, NASCAR Cup Series drivers will be chasing points at North Wilkesboro Speedway when they take the green flag for Sunday’s Window World 450 (7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
For those who have been counting the days between points races at the iconic 0.625-mile short track, 10,885 days will have passed since Jeff Gordon beat Dale Earnhardt by 1.73 seconds on Sept. 29, 1996.
At 450 laps (281.25 miles), Sunday’s race will be the longest in North Wilkesboro history, on an asphalt surface that was repaved in November 2023.
The Window World 450 comes at a point in the Cup Series season when the race for the top seed in the Chase has tightened considerably, the quest for the final spots in the Chase are excruciatingly close, and the battle for the $1 million In-Season Challenge prize has gotten serious.
Denny Hamlin wrested the series lead from fellow Toyota driver Tyler Reddick on June 28 at Sonoma Raceway, but last Sunday at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta, his advantage shrank from 44 points to 24.
Ryan Blaney’s victory at the Georgia track left him 65 points behind Hamlin, the closest margin from first to third since the second race of the season, also at EchoPark.
With six events left before the Chase field is set, and with huge swings in the points already an established fact, the battle for the top seed in the Chase is far from settled.
Though three editions of the NASCAR All-Star Race were contested at North Wilkesboro (2023-2025), this will be the first full-field event there in 30 years.
“I would never have thought five years ago that we’d have a points race there, but now we are,” said Blaney, the only Ford driver to visit Victory Lane since Team Penske teammate Joey Logano won at Texas Motor Speedway on May 4, 2025.
“I think it’s great for the series, great for that race track, obviously, but it’s just good to be racing around there. I think it puts on a great show, and it’s going to be a fun one… It’s going to be a long race—that’s for sure—a little bit different from the All-Star Race, a different feel with a full field of cars.
“It’ll take rubber a little bit differently, but last year, that place got really wide. I think the race will continue that way as we put laps on it. So, I think it’s going to be the best race that we’ve seen at that race track.”
Blaney is one of four drivers still competing for the winner-take-all $1-million prize in the In-Season Challenge. He is paired against 2025 All-Star Race winner Christopher Bell, with the higher finisher at North Wilkesboro advancing to the tournament finals July 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
On the other side of the bracket, Chase Elliott faces underdog Todd Gilliland for the right to race for the In-Season title.
The intensity in the battle for the final Chase spots can’t be understated. Just 50 points separate 16th-place Erik Jones (in the last Chase-eligible position) from 22nd-place AJ Allmendinger. Jones is eight points ahead of Logano, who won the 2024 All-Star race from the pole.
With a sixth-place finish at EchoPark, Shane van Gisbergen held 15th place in the standings, 31-points above the current cut line. With sixth tracks left—all ovals—the road course ace from New Zealand faces a challenging path to remain in the Chase, but the Atlanta run was encouraging.
“I was thinking about it at the end of the race,” van Gisbergen said. “There was no one around me that I was racing for points, so really needed to consolidate where I was. It didn’t change my approach.
“Got a P6 out of it, and it gives us really good momentum heading to North Wilkesboro. It’s a short track—those seem to be good for us—so hopefully we are able to grab some points and get a good result.”
North Wilkesboro starts a run of short tracks in NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Those who plan to compete in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series postseason would be well-advised to sharpen their short track skills.
Starting with Saturday’s FaithFest 250 presented by Mercer Transportation at North Wilkesboro Speedway (12:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), positions in the Chase will be set in races at three traditional short tracks (North Wilkesboro, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond Raceway) and a one-mile flat oval that races like a short track (New Hampshire Motor Speedway).
Against that backdrop, seven drivers are locked into a tight battle for the final spot in the 10-driver Chase, which begins Sept. 17 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Tyler Ankrum currently holds the 10th position, but he’s only 17 points ahead of 11th-place Stewart Friesen.
Tanner Gray, currently 16th in the standings, trails Ankrum by a mere 41 points, with Jake Garcia (tied with Friesen), Brenden Queen (13th), Andres Perez (14th) and Justin Haley (15th) all within 34 points of Ankrum.
With a 25th-place finish last Saturday at Lime Rock Park, Ankrum’s position in the standings became a bit more tenuous, but the next four races offer the opportunity to solidify his claim to a Chase spot.
“I’m super thankful the road courses have come to an end this season, that’s for sure,” said Ankrum, who finished eighth and third in his last two trips to North Wilkesboro. “It has been a disappointing start to the season, but we’re headed back to a short track where I’m always ready to get out there and get rolling.
“North Wilkesboro has been so good to us in the past, and it’s such a fun track to race at. Looking forward to it this weekend, and hopefully we can be in contention for a solid finish.”
If Lime Rock was a struggle for Ankrum, such was not the case for Grant Enfinger, whose upset victory at the road course left him ninth in the standings with a 42-point cushion over the current Chase cutoff.
At the top of the standings, series leader Layne Riggs holds a 44-point lead over second-place Kaden Honeycutt in what has evolved into a two-driver battle for the top seed in the Chase.
In his two North Wilkesboro starts, Riggs has finished third and second, tying Butch Miller for best average Truck Series finish (2.5) all-time at the track. Honeycutt ran 17th at the 0.625-mile track in 2023 and eighth in 2025 in his only two starts there.
