Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney won for the second time in five races by taking The Great American Getaway 400 Sunday afternoon at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
Blaney’s No 12 Team Penske Racing Ford jetted away on a restart with 23 laps left and easily topped Denny Hamlin by 1.312 seconds to back up his win last month at Iowa Speedway that put him into the playoffs.
The victory was his second at Pocono in 15 starts and the 12th of his career. His first-ever win was 11 June, 2017, at the Pennsylvania speedway while driving the Wood Brothers’ iconic No 21.
Alex Bowman, William Byron and Joey Logano followed behind the two frontrunners in the eight-caution race that featured eight leaders.
After securing his second career pole position Saturday, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs drove away from the field for the first 17 laps before turning the point over to teammate Martin Truex Jr in his No 19.
Truex’s Toyota pulled away to a strong lead, allowing the 2017 Cup champion to run away and claim his third stage win of 2024.
Sitting precipitously close to the points cut line, Ross Chastain popped the wall in his No 1 Chevrolet on Lap 53 while running 21st and retired from the event in 36th.
Meanwhile, Hamlin gambled on a two-tire stop and found himself up front with Josh Berry and Gibbs in the middle portion of Stage 2.
On Lap 67, Hamlin put his Camry past Berry’s No 4 Ford and built a 2.25-second advantage over the next five laps around the triangular layout, with Chase Elliott passing Gibbs for third.
Hamlin continued his Stage 2 dominance by claiming the top points in the stage and beating runner-up Elliott by nearly six seconds.
With 44 laps left, the entire field pitted under caution, and Kyle Larson, Elliott, Gibbs and Daniel Suarez were all nabbed for speeding and lost track position.
The race’s sixth caution flew immediately as Kyle Busch spun onto the apron after contact with Corey LaJoie on the Lap 121 restart.
Busch’s No 8 Chevrolet slid back up in Turn 1, banged into Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s No 47 and created a small melee. Gibbs brought out the eighth yellow when his No 54 lost an engine on a restart with 29 laps remaining to set up the final run to the finish.
Source: BBC
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