Logano hopes win at North Wilkesboro propels him back into hunt for fourth Cup Series championship

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (AP) — It was always in the back of Joey Logano's mind: the streak.

The three-time season champion had won at least one race in each of his previous 14 seasons racing in the NASCAR Cup Series entering this past weekend, the longest such streak among active drivers and just five behind the late Kyle Busch's record of 19.

He desperately wanted it to continue.

But as the weeks passed and the races came and went, Logano and the Team Penske No. 22 Ford team found themselves in search of speed — and their first victory of the 2026 season.

Twenty races, no wins.

Logano said doubt was beginning to creep in, as he found himself outside the cutline in the Chase for the Championship. (Only 16 drivers qualify for the playoffs, and he was 17th.)

As for winning a race? Well ...

“You start to wonder, am I going to have a chance this year to capitalize and (win) one?” Logano said.

It turns out all Logano needed to regain his swagger was a trip to what he calls his “best track.”

Logano dominated the field Sunday night to extend his streak to 15 straight seasons with a win at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he destroyed the competition in the All-Star race two years ago.

It ended a brutal drought of 45 starts without a win.

He was so unstoppable at the 0.625-mile track that all second-place finisher Denny Hamlin could do following the race was dab up Logano and congratulate him for masterfully navigating his way through lapped traffic.

Logano led 323 of 450 laps.

“It’s wildly impressive what he did,” Hamlin said.

Logano won every restart and simply pulled away from the pack, sometimes leading by more than five seconds. Hamlin offered a challenge late in the race, but the Cup points leader could never run Logano down.

Logano acknowledged it's been a tough year.

“Any time you kind of lack in speed, you start to question a lot of things around you, what the process is, what we’re doing, (even) yourself," Logano said. "All those things come to mind on why there’s not speed.”

But he has been around the pits long enough to know that stock car racing has its ebbs and flows given the changes to the cars and to the rules. Sometimes it feels like you're in a rocket ship and can't lose; other times you're stuck in the mud and can't buy a checkered flag.

This year — and for that matter, most of last year — it felt more like quicksand.

But Logano said his team never panicked and focused on finding a solution to its speed problem.

Logano was thrilled when NASCAR announced last year that North Wilkesboro would be added as a points race for first time in 30 years.

And why not? Nobody runs better here than him.

His crew seems to have mastered how to the set up the car through plenty of testing at the track, making things easier for him as a driver.

“I mean, when you have a car that fast, you kind of just make sure you don’t screw it up, right?” Logano said. “Don’t do anything dumb on pit road. Restarts, a little more conservative.”

Now safely inside the playoff cutline, Logano hopes Sunday's win will serve as a springboard with five races left before the playoffs.

“The job’s not done,” Logano said. “We still want to win the championship. We got some great tracks coming up ahead of us, so there’s definitely a lot of confidence in that. That’s definitely real, that we feel like we can capitalize on it. We capitalized on it today.”

Logano isn't one to spend much time looking in the rearview mirror, reflecting on the trophies he's won.

His focus is always on the next race.

“You just keep grinding. I can’t say I’ve ever felt like, because of the things I did in the past, it’s going to guarantee success in the future," Logano said. "I don’t think that’s the right way to look at it.”

Crew chief Paul Wolfe knows the team's strength is short-track racing, and that's where Logano currently feels most comfortable in the No. 22.

Two of the next five races are at short tracks, so that's a bonus.

But in order to compete for a fourth championship, Wolfe acknowledged, he needs to figure out how to pick up speed at the mile-and-a-half ovals.

“We still have a lot of work to do to get the other style racetracks where they need to be, the ones we’ve obviously struggled on this year,” Wolfe said. “I think the first thing we need to do is make sure we execute on these weekends here leading up to the end of the regular season and score those points to at least give ourselves a shot.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing

Joey Logano celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in North Wilkesboro, N.C., Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Joey Logano hugs his son Hudson after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in North Wilkesboro, N.C., Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Joey Logano (22) performs a burnout after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in North Wilkesboro, N.C., Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Crew members perform a pit stop on driver Joey Logano's car during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in North Wilkesboro, N.C., Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Joey Logano poses with the trophy in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in North Wilkesboro, N.C., Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Tropical Storm Bertha strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico and was moving slowly toward the Florida Panhandle and Alabama, causing a tropical storm warning and storm surge watches, forecasters said.

The storm was about 110 miles (177 kilometers) south of Panama City, Florida, and 170 miles (274 kilometers) southeast of Mobile, Alabama, and moving northwest at 5 mph (8 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Tuesday morning.

The wind speed increased by 10 mph (16 kph) since Bertha formed Monday night. A tropical storm warning, meaning the conditions are expected within the warning area within 36 hours, was in effect early Tuesday from the Florida and Alabama border to the Jefferson and Plaquemines parish line in Louisiana.

A storm surge watch, indicating rising, possible life-threatening water moving inland from the coast within 48 hours, was issued from the Alabama and Florida border to the mouth of the Mississippi River, the hurricane center reported.

Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Arthur brought heavy rainfall to the southeastern U.S. in June.

The storm was expected to stay near or along the northern Gulf Coast this week, dropping heavy rain on coastal areas of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana while pushing west toward Texas.

Potentially life-threatening storm surges of up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) are possible in portions of Louisiana, Alabama and Florida, the hurricane center said, warning Bertha could spin off an isolated tornado or two over the Florida Big Bend region.

Areas of flash flooding also will be possible through Friday along the coast from western Florida to middle Texas, forecasters said, adding that rainfall could total 3 to 5 inches (7 to 12 centimeters) along the Louisiana coastline, with higher amounts in some scattered areas.

Red flags on the beach at Orange Beach, Alabama, cautioned swimmers about high surf and currents. In Escambia County, Florida, emergency officials offered sand for people living in flood-prone areas to use for sandbags.

In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned far from Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and posed no threat to land, the hurricane center said.

Fausto gained hurricane status Monday night. It was about 740 miles (1,191 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, had top sustained winds of 80 mph (129 kph) and was moving northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).

The storm was expected to strengthen Tuesday and Wednesday. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, though ocean swells generated by the storm could cause life-threatening surf and rip tide conditions on the Baja California coast, the center said.

This NOAA satellite image taken at 10:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, shows Tropical Storm Bertha moving along the Gulf of Mexico's northern coast. (NOAA via AP)

This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration taken shows Hurricane Fausto in the eastern Pacific off Mexico’s Baja peninsula on Monday, July 20, 2026. (NOAA via AP)

This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration taken at 7:31pm EDT shows Tropical Storm Bertha in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, July 21, 2026. (NOAA via AP)