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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