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NASCAR Pocono: Ryan Blaney takes maiden Cup victory

Wood Brothers Racing's Ryan Blaney took his first NASCAR Cup victory by holding off Kevin Harvick at Pocono

The victor and Harvick were separated by just 0.139 seconds at the chequered flag as Blaney took the team's first win since Trevor Bayne's triumph at the 2011 Daytona 500, and he joined Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Austin Dillon in taking his first Cup win during the 2017 season.

The win was made more impressive by Blaney suffering a radio issue throughout the race that meant he was only able to communicate with his team through hand signals.

Blaney claimed the lead with just nine laps remaining from formerly dominant polesitter Kyle Busch after a late caution changed the outlook of the race.

When a brake issue for Kasey Kahne brought out the caution with 19 laps to go, Blaney and many other drivers pitted before racing resumed with 13 laps remaining.

Busch, who led 101 of the 160 laps, winning the first stage and narrowly missing out on the second to Kyle Larson, decided to favour track position instead of a late pitstop for fresh tyres.

But he was unable to hold off the drivers on fresher rubber, falling to ninth at the end of the race, remaining ahead of Matt Kenseth by just 0.4s.

Kahne's Hendrick Motorsports' team-mate Jimmie Johnson violently hit the wall at Turn 1 with the right-hand side of his car, causing the first caution with 55 laps remaining, and officials brought out the red flag two laps later.

Johnson made contact with the barrier before Jamie McMurray followed him seconds later.

Smoke came from the right-rear brake of Johnson's car before his race ended, while McMurray complained of brake issues before his hit caused flames to come from the right side of his car.

Johnson believed after the incident that smoke developed due to fluid in that area of his car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr retired with 59 laps completed with a transmission issue after complaining of his car continually going into second gear and struggling in the first nine laps of the second stage.

Harvick seemed to have a similar issue, momentarily going into second gear, but he managed to survive for a joint-best result at the Pocono track.

Like Blaney, Erik Jones produced a career-best result, finishing third for his first top-five finish ahead of Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski.

Keselowski led for 10 laps in the final stage as he tried a different pit strategy compared to the leaders, giving away the lead with 21 laps left.

Martin Truex Jr finished sixth after momentarily holding the lead during the pitstop scramble, ahead of Larson and Chase Elliott.

Debutant Darrell 'Bubba' Wallace suffered troubles on his first Cup start while standing in for the injured Aric Almirola.

Wallace claimed both drivethrough and stop/go penalties for speeding in the pitlane during the first stage, before finishing 26th.

RACE RESULT

Pos Driver Team Car Laps
1 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 160
2 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 160
3 Erik Jones Furniture Row Racing Toyota 160
4 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 160
5 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 160
6 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 160
7 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 160
8 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 160
9 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 160
10 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 160
11 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 160
12 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 160
13 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 160
14 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 160
15 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 160
16 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 160
17 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 160
18 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 160
19 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 160
20 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 160
21 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 160
22 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 160
23 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 160
24 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 160
25 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 159
26 Darrell Wallace Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 159
27 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 158
28 Corey LaJoie BK Racing Toyota 157
29 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 156
30 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 155
31 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 154
32 Matt DiBenedetto Go FAS Racing Ford 153
33 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 153
34 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport / TMG Chevrolet 146
35 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 140
36 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95
37 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 95
38 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 58
39 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 35


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