Ryan Blaney led the final 44 laps and won Sunday at Pocono, the site of his first career NASCAR Cup Series win and his second victory in the last five races this season.
The 2023 NASCAR champion, Blaney won the inaugural Cup race last month at Iowa Speedway and added two more top 10 finishes headed into Pocono. The Team Penske driver’s summer success in the No. 12 Ford has stamped him a legitimate threat to win a second straight championship.
Blaney was dialed in on the 2.5-mile track and was never seriously challenged over the final 10 laps by runner-up Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman. Hamlin holds the Pocono record with seven career wins; Bowman won last’s week Chicago Street Race.
Bowman and Hamlin were fast.
Just not fast enough to catch Blaney in front of another packed house at Pocono.
Hamlin, last year’s winner, was in hot pursuit over the final six laps but the three-time Daytona 500 champion could never nip at Blaney’s Ford.
Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric won that race in Illinois and fellow Penske driver Joey Logano won four races later at Nashville Superspeedway. Throw in Blaney’s two wins and Penske drivers have won four of the last seven Cup races.
The 30-year-old Blaney, son of NASCAR driver Dave Blaney, grandson of dirt track star Lou Blaney, now has 12 career Cup wins dating back to the first one when he took the checkered flag for the Wood Brothers in 2017 at Pocono.
William Byron was fourth and Logano fifth.
Ross Chastain was knocked out of the race after just 53 laps, putting a serious dent in his playoff push. Chastain saw his points lead for the final spot cut from 53 points to 27 points over Bubba Wallace.
There are five races left before the 16-driver playoff field is set. There are four spots open with the 12 race winners securing an automatic berth.
Busch was turned by Corey LaJoie and ignited a late wreck that kept him from gaining the points he needed to try to creep back into the playoff race. Busch remained winless this season. He has won a Cup race every year since 2005.
Noah Gragson snagged a ride this week with Front Row Motorsports for 2025. At Pocono, Gragson was the first driver out, with issues only 13 laps into the race in the No. 10 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing. There were 13 drivers who did not finish the race.
NASCAR returns to the 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 30-year anniversary of stock cars racing at the historic venue. NASCAR raced on the oval from 1994 through 2020, but under Roger Penske’s ownership of IMS the race was held on the 2.439-mile road course the last three seasons as part of a shared weekend with the IndyCar Series.
