Blaney Returns to Scene of First Cup Win at Pocono

Checkered flag at Pocono

(LONG POND, PA – JULY 14, 2024 – RIS) NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney won his second race of 2024, leading only once, for the finall 44 laps, the most of any driver and ahead of runner-up Denny Hamlin by 2.373 seconds at the end of the Great American Getaway 400 race in front of a sell-out crowd at the triangular 2.5-mile track. 

On a green track after Sunday morning rains,Ty Gibbs moved to the lead, just ahead of William Byron, at the start of the Great American Getaway 400, sweeping low to break the draft exiting the third turn at the end of the first lap. 

The first caution flew for Noah Gragson’s spin and back into the wall in the second turn on the 14th lap of the 150 scheduled rounds.

Gibbs sped to the lead at the restart but Martin Truex Jr took advantage of GIbbs’ over-driving the exit of the first turn, followed by Hamlin, Reddick and Byron, with Gibbs dropping back to seventh in just the first lap. Truex went on to take the stage win, followed by Hamlin, Reddick, Byron and Elliott in the top five positions.

Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones headed Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher at the restart after pit strategies mixed the field.

Ross Chastain slid into the third turn wall and brought out the second incident caution of the race, limping back to the pits with right side damage after the hit.

Denny Hamlin took over the lead from Josh Berry on lap 67. Starting about ten laps later, green flag pit stops started to shake up the running order, with Hamlin moving back into the lead followed by Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney.

Hamlin, Elliott, Keselowski, Byron and Jones ran as the top five at the end of the second stage, Hamlin’s first stage win at the tricky triangle of Pocono. Hamlin restarted in16th after taking on a full load of fuel, planning on making the probable final stop shorter. Chris Buescher, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Ty GIbbs and Martin Truex headed the field to the restart for the final 60 laps of the race after stopping before the end of the stage and getting around the others who pitted under the caution.

A caution starting on lap 114 for the exploded brake rotor on Todd Gilliland’s car. Larson, Elliott, Suarez and GIbbs all got caught speeding on pit road making their pit stops, earning penalties and restarting at the back of the field. The four all elected to stop for four tires and fuel, ‘compounding’ the penalties registered but not changing their restart positions at the rear of the pack.

After a blcok from Corey LaJoie, Kyle Busch slid to the inside of the track, then back up the track and into the pack, with Ryan Preece,Austin Cindric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, AJ Allmendinger and Harrison Burton all involved as well.

Plabey, Bowman, Byron, Logano and Hamlin led at the restart but another crash ensued between John Hunter Nemechek and Zane Smith, who moved up the track with Michael McDowell already to their outside, caused the seventh caution of the race.

Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and WIlliam Byron headed the field with 29 laps to go as Ty Gibbs slowed on the back straight with smoke and fluids coming from the No. 54’s blown engine.

Blaney, Bowman, Hamlin, Logano and Byron topped the field at the restart, with Hamlin moving to second and Byron to fourth. The field straightened out single file quickly with the gaps between the top five at about six-tenths of a second each in less than ten laps. Blaney went on to open up a lead of about 1.5 seconds over Bowman with eleven laps remaining, then just under two seconds only a lap later and continued to increase the gap back to Hamlin.

Unofficial Results: The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VisitPA.com, July 14, 2024 - Pocono Raceway  
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 8, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Wabash Ford, 160, , , 1, 44, 5, 40, Running
2) 4, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota, 160, 2, 1, 1, 31, 1, 54, Running
3) 6, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevrolet, 160, 6, 7, , , , 43, Running
4) 2, William Byron, No. 24 Raptor High Heat Chevrolet, 160, 4, 4, , , , 47, Running
5) 10, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 160, 7, 9, 1, 3, , 38, Running
6) 7, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota, 160, 3, 10, , , , 40, Running
7) 14, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Nexlizet Ford, 160, 8, 3, 1, 20, , 41, Running
8) 3, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 160, 1, , 1, 14, 1, 39, Running
9) 11, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 160, 5, 2, , , , 43, Running
10) 29, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Leidos Toyota, 160, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 18, Chris Buescher, No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 160, , , 1, 19, , 26, Running
12) 13, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 160, 9, 8, , , , 30, Running
13) 12, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 160, , 6, , , , 29, Running
14) 23, Erik Jones, No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota, 160, 10, 5, , , , 30, Running
15) 28, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford, 160, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 16, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 15, Carson Hocevar #, No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 20, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford, 160, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 30, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Parity in Paris Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 5, Josh Berry #, No. 4 Overstock.com Ford, 160, , , 1, 8, , 17, Running
21) 26, AJ Allmendinger(i), No. 16 Cirkul Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 0, Running
22) 34, Justin Haley, No. 51 Walmart Health & Wellness Ford, 160, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 17, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Boot Barn Chevrolet, 159, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 21, Michael McDowell, No. 34 GUNK Ford, 157, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 27, Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 12, 
26) 35, Cody Ware, No. 15 Jacob Construction Ford, 134, , , , , , 11, 
27) 1, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 132, , , 2, 21, , 10, Engine
28) 32, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Dollar Tree Toyota, 126, , , , , , 9, Accident
29) 9, Zane Smith #, No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet, 126, , , , , , 8, Accident
30) 36, Ryan Preece, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 121, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 22, Harrison Burton, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford, 121, , , , , , 6, Accident
32) 24, Kyle Busch, No. 8 zone/GetGo Chevrolet, 120, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 31, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Sugarlands Sippin' Cream Chevrolet, 120, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 33, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 C.H. REED Ford, 115, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 37, JJ Yeley(i), No. 44 Ollie's Bargain Outlet Chevrolet, 112, , , , , , 0, Fuel Pump
36) 19, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Busch Light Peach Chevrolet, 53, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 25, Noah Gragson, No. 10 Overstock.com Ford, 13, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Total Race Length: 160 Laps, 400. Miles
Time of Race: 3:12:01
Average Speed: 124.880 MPH
Margin of Victory: 2.373 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 11, 45, 24, 9, 48, 22, 6, 20, 43
Stage 2 Top 10: 11, 9, 6, 24, 43, 5, 48, 20, 22, 45
Comments: Ryan Blaney has won the The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VisitPA.com at Pocono Raceway, his 12th career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: Nos. 7 & 8 (unapproved adjustments).
Cautions: 8 for 34 laps;
Laps: 15-17 (No. 10 Incident Turn 1 [None]);
32-35 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]);
54-58 (No. 1 Indcident Turn 3 [None]);
97-100 (Stage 2 Conclusion [71]);
116-120 (No. 38 Incident Turn 1 [4]);
122-126 (Nos. 2, 7, 8,16, 21, 41, 47 Incident Turn 1 [31]);
128-131 (Nos. 34, 42, 71 Incident Backstretch [None]);
134-137 (Fluid on Backstretch [None]).
Lead Changes: 8 among 8 drivers;
T. Gibbs 1-17;
M. Truex Jr. 18-31;
J. Logano 32-34;
B. Keselowski 35-54;
T. Gibbs 55-58;
J. Berry # 59-66;
D. Hamlin 67-97;
C. Buescher 98-116;
R. Blaney 117-160.

Unofficial Points: The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VisitPA.com - Pocono Raceway
Rank  Driver     Car  Starts     GL   Points     Ldr  Nxt  Race Wins  Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1) Chase Elliott 9    21   1    703  0    0    1    1    6
2) Kyle Larson   5    20   -1   700  -3   3    3    8    23
3) Tyler Reddick 45   21   0    688  -15  12   1    3    8
4) Denny Hamlin  11   21   0    683  -20  5    3    5    20
5) William Byron 24   21   1    646  -57  37   3    1    16
6) Martin Truex Jr    19   21   -1   640  -63  6    0    3    3
7) Ryan Blaney   12   21   0    627  -76  13   2    2    12
8) Christopher Bell   20   21   0    616  -87  11   3    9    24
9) Brad Keselowski    6    21   1    599  -104  17   1    0    5
10) Alex Bowman  48   21   1    596  -107  3    1    0    5
11) Ty Gibbs     54   21   -2   570  -133  26   0    2    2
12) Chris Buescher    17   21   1    547  -156  23   0    2    2
13) Ross Chastain 1    21   -1   530  -173  17   0    1    1
14) Joey Logano  22   21   0    522  -181  8    1    1    6
15) Bubba Wallace 23   21   0    503  -200  19   0    0    0
16) Chase Briscoe 14   21   0    455  -248  48   0    0    0
17) Daniel Suarez 99   21   1    431  -272  24   1    0    5
18) Kyle Busch   8    21   -1   428  -275  3    0    0    0
19) Austin Cindric    2    21   1    408  -295  20   1    2    7
20) Todd Gilliland    38   21   -1   403  -300  5    0    0    0
21) Josh Berry # 4    21   0    386  -317  17   0    0    0
22) Michael McDowell   34   21   0    378  -325  8    0    1    1
23) Carson Hocevar #   77   21   2    358  -345  20   0    0    0
24) Noah Gragson 10   21   -1   354  -349  4    0    0    0
25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr 47   21   -1   343  -360  11   0    0    0
26) Erik Jones   43   19   2    320  -383  23   0    0    0
27) Ryan Preece  41   21   -1   318  -385  2    0    0    0
28) Daniel Hemric 31   21   -1   309  -394  9    0    0    0
29) Justin Haley 51   21   0    302  -401  7    0    0    0
30) Corey LaJoie 7    21   1    301  -402  1    0    0    0
31) John Hunter Nemechek    42   21   -1   293  -410  8    0    0    0
32) Austin Dillon 3    21   0    270  -433  23   0    0    0
33) Harrison Burton   21   21   0    237  -466  33   0    0    0
34) Zane Smith # 71   21   0    228  -475  9    0    0    0
35) Kaz Grala         16   0    166  -537  62   0    0    0
36) Joey Hand         1    0    43   -660  123  0    1    0
37) Jimmie Johnson          5    0    35   -668  8    0    0    0
38) Derek Kraus       5    0    32   -671  3    0    0    0
39) Cody Ware    15   3    1    28   -675  4    0    0    0
40) David Ragan       1    -1   17   -686  11   0    0    0
41) Kamui Kobayashi         1    0    8    -695  9    0    0    0
42) Will Brown        1    0    6    -697  2    0    0    0
43) Cam Waters        1    0    2    -701  4    0    0    0
44) AJ Allmendinger(i) 16   9    0    0    -703  2    0    0    0
45) Anthony Alfredo(i)      2    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
46) Justin Allgaier(i)      1    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
47) Ty Dillon(i)      4    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
48) Shane Van Gisbergen(i)       4    0    0    -703  0    0    1    0
49) Corey Heim(i)     3    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
50) Bj Mcleod(i)      3    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
51) Riley Herbst(i)         3    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
52) Josh Williams(i)        2    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
53) Josh Bilicki(i)         1    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
54) Austin Hill(i)          3    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
55) JJ Yeley(i)  44   3    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
56) Timmy Hill(i)     1    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
57) David Starr(i)          1    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
58) Chad Finchum(i)         1    0    0    -703  0    0    0    0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series