Joey Logano felt like Christopher Bell used him up when making the winning pass with nine laps to go.
Bell felt like Logano established the rules of engagement earlier in the final run, and ultimately did something very familiar, and also within reason given the million dollar prize in the All Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday night.
Logano blocked Bell pretty heavily and dragged the brakes on him too. Bell washed up the track, brushing them both towards the wall, before driving away to the lead.
It made the three-time and defending champion pretty aggravated.
“It is what it is, I don’t know,” Logano said. “He did it good enough that I couldn’t get back to him. I was going to show him what fair was but I just couldn’t get there. I just couldn’t get there with the tires.”
And also, in the same post-race media scrum.
“I’ll just race him the same way,” Logano said. “That’s all it is. Listen, we were racing for a million dollars so I get it but we race each other every week and we’re like elephants and we never forget.
He also said the following to FOX Sports 1:
“I did all I could do to hold him off, and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option,” he said. “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. Just too much to try to make up with the tire deficit. Just frustrated after you lead so many laps and the car is so fast and you don’t win, it hurts quite a bit.”
Bell was genuinely surprised to hear Logano was frustrated.
“He was frustrated?” Bell said. “That is interesting. I genuinely would not have guessed that.”
So then Matt Weaver of The Sporting News read the quotes back to Bell.
“Well, I had got to him a couple times before and he made it very difficult on me, as he should,” Logano said. “I got my run, and I took the moment, as I should. So yeah, 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.”
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