It may have been a different Victory Lane and team when Ryan Blaney won at Pocono Raceway seven years ago, but the feeling of elation was the same Sunday after winning The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA NASCAR Cup Series race.
Before a sold-out crowd for the second consecutive year, Blaney fended off last week’s winner Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports and then seven-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin in the waning laps of the 160-lap, 400-mile race to become a two-time winner at “The Tricky Triangle.” His other win – the first of his Cup Series career – came in 2017 while driving for the Wood Brothers.
“I really think it’s just special. I feel like every win is very special,” Blaney said. “You have to cherish them. You never know when the next one is going to come. Hard to believe it’s been seven years since I won the first time here. Time definitely flies. Like I said, different Victory Lane. I think this Victory Lane is pretty neat. All the fans being there, giving them an experience, too.
“I feel like you approach it a little bit differently seven years later. It was cool that I got my 12th win in the 12 car where I got my first win. That’s kind of a neat little tidbit. Just a really cool day.”
Blaney blended a fast car with a great strategy, where the team opted to forgo stage points for track position and ultimately a win, to collect his second win of the season. He didn’t finish among the top 10 and accumulate points in the first two stages, but there he was front and center when it came to the third and final stage.
“It certainly played out a little differently than we had planned,” Blaney’s crew chief Jonathan Hassler said. “You have a plan coming in, but then the way cautions fall certainly dictates really kind of the way everything else works out. I think that caution around Lap 50 of the second stage really kind of diverted the strategy, spread the field out where we had an opportunity to short pit, flip the stage there going into stage three, get our track position at the right time.”
RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher, a previous Pocono winner, held the lead through the opening of the third stage before a caution came out on Lap 116 for a single-car incident with Todd Gilliland in Turn 1. A number of contenders pitted, including Blaney who came out with the lead on 117. Pit road speeding penalties for Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, along with polesitter Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing, spoiled any opportunity for a shot to contend for the win or a top-five finish.
Blaney would lead the final 44 laps, but he did not cruise to a victory. Three cautions would fly during that period, but he was strong on the restarts to keep Bowman and Hamlin at bay. Bowman closed to .2 of a second with 19 to go but Blaney slowly stretched that lead out. Hamlin would overtake Bowman for second with seven to go and 2.3 seconds behind, but could only close to 1.312 seconds at the checkered.
Bowman finished third, William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports fourth and Blaney’s teammate Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
“Never lose a race, just always run out of time, right? That’s just part of it,” Hamlin said. “Track position is such a big thing. When the 12 (Blaney) jumped on that stage that we won, that put them in front of us. Certainly was going to be hard to pass. Not just enough laps of green there towards the end. Hats off to them. Great run. He kept great pace up there towards the front. Really hard for me to even try to get close to reeling him in.”
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