Blaney Snaps JGR Playoff Run With Strong Loudon Victory
Ryan Blaney celebrates in victory lane at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (David Rosenblum/Nigel Kinrade Photography)
LOUDON, N.H. – Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney ended the Joe Gibbs Racing stranglehold on the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but he had to fend off a concerted charge from Josh Berry before he could celebrate.
Leading 116 laps in the Mobil 1 301, Blaney drove to his first victory at the ‘Magic Mile’, holding the best efforts of noted short-track ace Berry at bay down the home stretch of the Round of 12 opener.
Using fresher right-side tires taken during the race’s final caution period, Blaney jumped to second behind Berry on the restart with 42 laps left, then took just three more laps before making the race-winning pass to the low side of turn two.
Once he had clean air on the front of the No. 12 Menards/Libman Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Blaney couldn’t be touched again, eventually winning by .937 seconds at the checkered flag.
It marked Blaney’s 16th career Cup Series win, his third of the season, and first at Loudon. With the triumph, the second-generation driver from Hartford, Ohio clinched his berth in the playoff semifinals.
“That was probably the hardest 20 laps that I drove all day,” said Blaney after climbing from his car. “I was trying to kind of [save] my stuff and kind of pull Josh a little bit. Then he really started coming, and I started to get super free. It was all I could do to hold him off, trying new lanes.
“It was good racing and clean racing. I appreciate Josh for not throwing me the bumper when he could have,” Blaney added. “What a cool day. What a cool weekend. We had a super-fast car all weekend. Can’t believe the [No.] 12 boys; they’re unbelievable. Really have been strong through the playoffs.
“It’s great to get a win in the first race of this round and take some of the pressure off.”
Though the race featured eight yellow flags for a combined 45 laps, the first and last of those – both involving Cody Ware and Austin Dillon – laid the groundwork for the strategy that unfolded in the final stage.
Contact from Dillon sent Ware spinning in turn three on lap 63, shortly after Blaney had taken the lead from his pole-winning teammate Joey Logano and first established himself as a contender up front.
When Ware tried to repay the favor in turn two with 48 laps left, he ended up spinning his own car up into the outside wall, triggering the final slowdown of the afternoon shortly after a cycle of green-flag pit stops had concluded.
Berry had been the last of the frontrunners to come in for service when he pitted with 60 to go, hoping that fresher Goodyear rubber than both Blaney and Joey Logano would pay dividends over a long run to close the race.
Ryan Blaney (12) leads Josh Berry Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)
That hope evaporated at the final caution, leading Berry to stay out when Blaney and others pitted for 14-lap newer right side tires, hoping the track position would be enough for him to hang onto the lead.
But Blaney – who was fastest in practice Saturday and qualified on the outside pole – proved himself to be the quickest when it mattered, driving away from Berry after the latter driver slid sideways through turn three on lap 291 and overheated his rear tires.
Still, it was a tremendous rally for Berry, who spun after contact from Shane van Gisbergen on lap 82 just after the beginning of the second stage.
“If it stayed green, I think we had a chance at it,” Berry admitted. “Maybe we should have taken two tires there [at the final caution], but ultimately, we were down a set from the spin and didn’t want to take our last tires that early.
“Still, it’s just a great day. This is the kind of day we needed.”
Halting the bleeding from a mediocre start to the postseason, Hendrick Motorsports put its three remaining playoff cars in the top seven at Loudon, led by two-time Daytona 500 winner and regular season champion William Byron in third.
Blaney’s teammate Logano, who led a race-high 147 laps but faded late, was fourth ahead of the second Hendrick-prepared Chevrolet of Chase Elliott in fifth.
Elliott’s steady rise through the field was impressive after a 27th-place qualifying effort, worst among the championship contenders entering race day.
After JGR Toyotas swept the first three playoff races, the best finisher from that team at New Hampshire was sixth-place Christopher Bell.
Hendrick’s Kyle Larson, Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, and a second JGR entry in Chase Briscoe closed the top 10 Sunday.
A disastrous day for 23XI Racing, co-owned by Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan, saw its two drivers – Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace – both finish outside the top 20.
Reddick crossed 21st and Wallace ended his day a lap down in 26th.
Those two, along with Chastain and 17th-finishing Austin Cindric, head to Kansas Speedway for the middle race in the Round of 12 well below the provisional cut line.
All four drivers currently outside the top eight in the standings have double-digit points deficits to make up if they want to escape elimination at the end of the round.
Broadcast coverage of the Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas airs Sunday, Sept. 28 at 3 p.m. ET, live on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
