Ryan Blaney led a race-high 44 laps to earn his second win of the 2024 season Sunday at Pocono Raceway, marking his second victory in the last five races. Team Penske has now won four of the last seven NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) races while Blaney’s win Sunday serves as Team Penske’s first at Pocono since 2011.
Blaney now has three career multi-win seasons to his credit – all coming in the last four years – after picking up his 12th-career Cup Series victory. The win also marks Blaney’s second NCS triumph at the 2.5-mile track after taking his first-career checkered flag in 2017 while driving for Wood Brothers Racing. After starting eighth Sunday, the Wabash Ford Mustang showed top-five speed from the drop of the green flag. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler put the 12 team’s strategy in motion early on, bringing Blaney to pit road in the closing laps of each of the first two stages to set him up for the final run of the afternoon. Following Stage 2, Blaney stayed out under caution and lined up on the outside of row two to take the green for the final segment. Blaney wheeled the Wabash Ford up to second in the running order during the opening laps of the run, but a tight-handling condition initially kept him from chasing down the leader. The caution flag flew with 45 laps to go as the field hit pit road for the final time as Hassler made the call for right side tires only, allowing Blaney to exit second. However, a pit road speeding penalty issued to the No. 5 turned the lead over to Blaney as he chose to restart from the outside of row one with 40 laps remaining. A trio of cautions over the span of 12 laps continued to bring the field back together despite Blaney clearing the inside lane out of turn one on each restart. Ultimately, the field took the green for the final time with 23 laps to go as Blaney once again powered around the inside row off the exit of turn one and worked to stretch his advantage as the laps ticked off. The No. 48 closed in on the Blaney’s bumper during the opening laps of the run, but his long-run speed prevailed as the Wabash Ford steadily increased the gap on the field. After stretching his lead out to over two seconds, Blaney took the checkered flag to claim the 12 team’s second win of the season.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “I think things are just kind of falling into place for us. I feel like we have gotten to a great place on speed in the last two months, especially. I feel like we honestly had a couple races slip away from us which I thought we had a good shot at winning. It was nice to stick to the plan today and our plan was to have track position at the end. I knew our car was fast enough. I am super proud of the whole 12 team. The Wabash Ford Mustang was amazing. I appreciate Menards, BODYARMOR, the Wurth Group, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging and everyone that makes this possible. It is so cool to win here again. I think we are in a better spot at this time this year than where we were last year at this point. I feel like our speed is better. Our execution is great. We are doing everything as a 12 group the best that we can. We have had some other unforeseen circumstances that have hindered some finishes and possible wins. I am so proud of this Team Penske group. All the men and women at the race shop, they work their butts off to try to get better and deal with the drivers when they say we need to get a lot better. I appreciate them and Roush Yates Engines and all the work they do and continue to do.”
Custom Hot Wheels and Matchbox Cars For Sale - The Coldnose Garage on Etsy
