Blaney wins at Pocono! Reigning NASCAR champ records second Cup Series win of season

Ryan Blaney is a two-time NASCAR winner this season.

The Cup Series’ defending champion held off the field late in a competitive race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania., to secure his second victory of the season. It marks the 12th career win in 327 Cup starts for the driver of the No. 12 Ford.

Less than a month after more than 80 of his mother’s family members were on-site for his victory at Iowa, the Team Penske driver noted that extended family of his fiancé, Gianna Tulio, were at Pocono to see his win on Sunday.

Blaney returned to Victory Lane at the track where he won his first race — seven years after the Ohio native piloted the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford and scored his first career Cup Series win back in 2017.

“It’s just a special win here today,” Blaney said. “You love tracks that have special meaning to you. Where you get your first win, things like that. This place means so much to me. And my fiancé — a ton of her family is here, I can’t wait to see Gianna’s family.”

Denny Hamlin finished second, Alex Bowman came in third, William Byron fourth and Joey Logano fifth.

How Blaney earned his second win of the NASCAR season

Martin Truex Jr., the recent Cup Series champion who is retiring after this season, won Stage 1 in his final race at Pocono.

The two Charlotteans started the race on the front row, with Ty Gibbs on the pole for the second time in his career alongside Byron’s No. 24 Chevy. There was only one caution during each of the stages, respectively, and Hamlin recorded the win following Stage 2.

Wrecks piled up on restarts during the final stage, which lasted 65 laps — the same length as Stage 2 following a shorter 30-lap opening stage. The biggest crash came when Corey LaJoie got into Kyle Busch, sending the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevy spinning up the grass and collecting seven cars.

The three-turned track known as the “Tricky Triangle” features a longer pit road than usual, and speeding penalties were being assessed in Section 7 throughout the day. Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez and Gibbs got penalized in that section of pit road late after being in contention for most of the race.

The final caution was prompted by an engine issue from the No. 54 Toyota of Gibbs, and Blaney led the field back to green. Bowman restarted on the front row and pushed from P2 late for the second straight week.

Hamlin worked around Bowman, but Blaney built a lead and didn’t look back. He opened a lead of roughly two seconds, and the race’s final 23 laps stayed green.

Two reigning series champions won NASCAR races at Pocono

Cole Custer won his first Xfinity race of the season on Saturday.

The 2023 Xfinity Series champion’s return to Victory Lane marked the first Ford win in the series this year. Custer got to the lead after a late restart, holding off Justin Allgaier and Byron.

Byron, who won the pole in last year’s Cup race at Pocono that was won by Hamlin, led 17 of 90 laps in his third Xfinity start of the season. He was fast in the No. 17 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports — after the Cup driver qualified on the front row on Sunday, finishing in the Top Five for the seventh time this year.