Ryan Blaney wins the NASCAR Cup Series’ Round of 12 opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon in the Mobil 1 301
LOUDON, N.H. – Team Penske Fords were fast in practice, fast in qualifying, and fastest in the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when it counted Sunday afternoon, with Ryan Blaney taking a .937-second victory over fellow Ford driver Josh Berry in the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs’ Round of 12.
The race marks a distinct competitive turn in this year’s championship. Three Fords finishing among the top-five with three Chevrolets among the top-eight at the one-mile New Hampshire track. Toyota swept the Playoffs’ opening three-race round.
Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford – which started on the outside of the front row – led 116 of the race’s 301 laps, including the final 39 laps. He held off the Wood Brothers Racing driver Berry, who had rallied back in his No. 21 Ford after a spin on lap 21.
“Probably the hardest 20 laps I drove,” Blaney, 31, said of the race’s closing laps. “Was trying to bide my stuff and he [Berry] really started coming. He started to get super free, and it was all I could do to hold him off. It was good racing. Clean racing, and I appreciate Josh not throwing me the bumper when he could have.”
Blaney’s victory cashes the popular 2023 series champion’s ticket into the Round of 8. He is officially in pursuit of his second NASCAR Cup Series title. Important both Sunday and likely further in the Playoffs as the season’s three-race winner he can expect fierce competition from his Penske teammate. The three-time and reigning series champ, Joey Logano, will likely intensify the playoffs.
The two were quickest throughout preparation for Sunday’s race. They maintained that edge throughout the day, combining to lead 263 of the 301 laps.
The Mobil 1 301 Results
The pole-winner Logano led the most laps (147) and finished fourth. He crossed the line just behind another Playoff-eligible driver. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, whose teammate, Chase Elliott, turned in an inspiring comeback performance with a fifth-place showing. Elliott had a 27th-place starting position.
“We ran well, we just weren’t the fastest car,” Logano said. “The 12 [Blaney] was fastest in practice, and he showed that again in the race. Our only chance to beat him was on pit road and beat him on details. But they were able to make up their track position when they put four [tires] on. That last restart, I could have started behind him and finished third in the race, but if I was behind the 12 [Blaney] I wasn’t going to win.”
It perhaps marked a significant turn in competition – early in this round, at least – with the top Toyota driver, the race’s defending winner, Christopher Bell, leading that manufacturer with a sixth-place finish Sunday. He won just a week ago, capping a three-race Toyota winning sweep in the opening Playoff series.
Playoff driver Hendrick’s Kyle Larson was seventh. He is followed by Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell. Playoff drivers Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing) and Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing).
Running in the top ten most of the day, JGR’s veteran driver, Denny Hamlin, was involved in an incident with his younger teammate, Ty Gibbs, mid-race. Hamlin dropped from the championship lead coming into New Hampshire and is now fifth place in the points with a 12th-place run. The season’s five-race winner had no comment, however, about the contact with Gibbs that put the young third-year driver into the wall and out of the race while they both raced among the top ten.
The NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 Point Standings
Blaney’s victory – the 16th of his career – automatically moves him into the next round of the Playoffs. Byron is now second in the standings, 47 points above the cutoff line. Larson is 41 points up and Bell is 29 points to the good.
“The Penske cars were super-fast, kind of in another zip code,” said Byron, whose third-place finish marks his first career top ten showing in eight New Hampshire races.
“If we can just build on this, all our short tracks are coming together,” said Byron. “It’s no breathing room because you have to go out there and execute every week and keep your foot on the gas in this deal. But hopefully we can go to Kansas and be up front, contending for a win.
“…Definitely wasn’t expecting to be this strong here, so hopefully we can to Kansas and be really good.’’
Hamlin is now fifth in the standings with a 24-point cushion on the elimination line. He is followed by Logano (plus-24), Elliott (plus-14). Briscoe, who holds a 12-point advantage over Chastain for the eighth. He is in the final Playoff position to advance following the Kansas race next week. The Charlotte ROVAL race is the Round of 12 elimination in two weeks.
Team Penske’s Austin Cindric (minus-19) and 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick (minus-23). Next is Bubba Wallace (minus-23) is also below the Playoff line heading to Kansas. Cindric finished 17th on Sunday, Reddick was 21st, and Wallace was 26th.
Up Next
The Cup Series moves to the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Chastain is the defending race winner.