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Ryan Blaney surges with second NASCAR Cup win at Pocono

This is the second win of the season for the defending champions, who seem faster than they were in 2023

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NASCAR: The Great American Getaway 400
Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Team Penske, Ford Performance and Ryan Blaney are going streaking.

Blaney, with his NASCAR Cup Series victory on Sunday at Pocono, has won two of the past five races with two other top-10s at Nashville and Chicago too. Penske has four of the last seven races when also counting Joey Logano at Nashville and Austin Cindric at Gateway.

That’s a power surge for a manufacturer that seemed pretty listless in the first half of the season.

The Penske No. 12 team had good speed and a sound strategy, paired with just the right amount of fortune, pitting just before the second stage break and inheriting the lead when Kyle Larson was caught speeding after beating Blaney off pit road.

This strategy left them narrowly close on fuel but it didn’t matter as the second half of the race was marred with cautions that required minimal fuel consumption. Hamlin won that second stage, and chose the stage win and playoff point, meaning he got flipped outside of the top-10 for the start of the stage.

Hamlin methodically closed on Blaney but didn’t have enough to compensate for the clean air and that’s how the race was decided.

“I think things are just kind of falling into place for us. I feel like we have gotten to a great place on speed in the last two months, especially,” Blaney said. “I feel like we honestly had a couple races slip away from us which I thought we had a good shot at winning.

“It was nice to stick to the plan today and our plan was to have track position at the end. I knew our car was fast enough. I am super proud of the whole No. 12 team. It is so cool to win here again. I won here seven years ago for my first Cup win.”

The defending champion had only one win to this point last year but was far less consistent in the summer in what turned out to be their championship run. This team has been way more consistent and is peaking sooner.

“I think we are in a better spot at this time this year than where we were last year at this point,” Blaney said. “I feel like our speed is better. Our execution is great. We are doing everything as a No. 12 group the best that we can. We have had some other unforeseen circumstances that have hindered some finishes and possible wins. “

This is the 12th career victory for Blaney and 11th win Team Penske as his first win, which came here seven years ago, was in the Penske affiliated Wood Brothers No. 21.

A week removed from his win in the Chicago Street Race, Alex Bowman was third ahead of William Byron, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace.

Of note, pole winner Ty Gibbs failed to make it to the finish with an expired engine to bring out the final caution of the race. He finished 26th.

The most notable crash of the day involved Kyle Busch, who got turned by Corey Lajoie, in an incident that also involved Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton, AJ Allmendinger and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

That’s five DNFs in seven races for the two-time champion, who can’t have anything go right in his second season for Richard Childress Racing. He finished 32nd.

Also on the playoff bubble, Ross Chastain did himself no points favorites, finished 36th with a steering issue that sent him hard into the Turn 3 wall.

Pocono NASCAR Cup results

  1. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
  2. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  3. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  4. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  5. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
  6. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
  7. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
  8. Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  9. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  10. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
  11. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
  12. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  13. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  14. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
  15. Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
  16. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
  17. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
  18. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
  19. Corey Lajoie, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
  20. Josh Berry, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
  21. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
  22. Justin Haley, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
  23. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
  24. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
  25. Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
  26. Cody Ware, No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
  27. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  28. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
  29. Zane Smith, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
  30. Ryan Preece, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
  31. Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
  32. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
  33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
  34. Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
  35. JJ Yeley, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet
  36. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
  37. Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
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