Blaney was among a group of drivers to pit before the break between Stages 2 and 3 which left him close on fuel when he made his final stop under caution on lap 117 of 160.
He came off pit road second after the stop but actually inherited the lead when Kyle Larson – who was first off pit road – was among four drivers penalized for speeding.
Three cautions in the final 40 laps helped Blaney save plenty of fuel and he held off a late charge by Denny Hamlin by 1.312 seconds to win Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway.
“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," Blaney said. "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 No. 12 team. It is so cool to win here again. I won here seven years ago for my first Cup win."
Asked if this was the best his No. 12 team has ever been, Blaney said, “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 No. 12 group the best that we can. We have had some other unforeseen circumstances that have hindered some finishes and possible wins. "
The win is the second of the season for the reigning series champion and 12th of his career. It’s also his second career win on the 2.5-mile triangular-shaped track, which was the site of his first career win in 2017.
Team Penske has now won four of the last seven races with all three of its drivers locked in the 16-driver playoff field.
Last week’s race winner Alex Bowman finished third, William Byron fourth and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
Completing the top 10 were Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace.
Stage 1
While several drivers elected to pit before the break, Truex stayed out and cruised to a 1.345-second Stage 1 win over Hamlin. Reddick was third, Byron fourth and Elliott ended up fifth.
Stage 2
Again, several drivers pit before the end of the stage, but Hamlin remained on track and cruised to the Stage 2 win by 5.707 seconds over Elliott. Keselowski was third, Byron fourth and Erik Jones fifth.
Ross Chastain slammed into the Turn 3 wall on lap 53, which did serious damage to his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and knocked him out of the race. Chastain is in danger of missing the playoffs without a win yet this season.
Ross Chastain tags the wall and that may close up the #NASCARPlayoffs cut line as the No. 1 is done for the day. pic.twitter.com/twjrEcTyaW
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) July 14, 2024
“I just flat spun out. We were all sliding around, but I just spun out,” Chastain said. “It felt like it happened in slow motion. Yeah, obviously frustrated with myself, but can’t take it back now.”
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, most of the lead lap cars pit, with Reddick first off pit road among those who stopped. Chris Buescher stayed out and inherited the lead when the race resumed with 60 laps remaining.
Todd Gilliland appeared to blow a brake rotor and hit the wall in Turn 1 on lap 115 which brought out a caution right on the edge of the fuel window to make it to the end of the race.
All of the lead lap cars pit with Larson first off pit road but Larson, Elliott, Daniel Saurez and Ty Gibbs were all penalized for speeding and had to restart from the rear of the field. That left Blaney as the race leader when it returned to green with 40 laps to go.
On the restart, Corey LaJoie turned Kyle Busch entering Turn 1 which sent Busch up the track and into Ricky Stenhouse Jr, which triggered a multi-car crash. Busch, Stenhouse, Harrison Burton and Ryan Preece were all knocked out of the race.
Rough restart wreck at Pocono as Kyle Busch gets sent up into turn 1 traffic. pic.twitter.com/Yo0fmHrcbu
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) J uly 14, 2024
A handful of cars hit pit road for fuel and tires, but Blaney remained on the track and in the lead when the race resumed with 34 laps to go.
Carson Hocevar and John Hunter Nemechek wrecked in Turn 1 to bring out another caution and set up a restart with 29 laps remaining with Blaney ahead of Bowman. Gibbs’s blown engine required an extensive cleanup of fluid on the track and set up another restart with 23 laps to go.
With 15 laps remaining, Blaney fought off a challenge from Bowman for the lead and built a more than one-second advantage.
Hamlin got around Bowman to take over the runner-up position with seven laps to go and trailing Blaney by just over two seconds.
| CLA | DRIVER | # | MANUFACTURER | LAPS | TIME | INTERVAL | PITS | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE | 12 | Ford | 160 |
3:13'58.911 |
6 | 40 | ||
| 2 | D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING | 11 | Toyota | 160 |
+1.312 3:14'00.223 |
1.312 | 7 | 54 | |
| 3 | A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 48 | Chevrolet | 160 |
+4.057 3:14'02.968 |
2.745 | 7 | 43 | |
| 4 | W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 24 | Chevrolet | 160 |
+6.160 3:14'05.071 |
2.103 | 7 | 47 | |
| 5 | J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE | 22 | Ford | 160 |
+6.559 3:14'05.470 |
0.399 | 7 | 38 | |
| 6 | T. Reddick23XI RACING | 45 | Toyota | 160 |
+6.865 3:14'05.776 |
0.306 | 7 | 40 | |
| 7 | B. KeselowskiRFK RACING | 6 | Ford | 160 |
+7.604 3:14'06.515 |
0.739 | 7 | 41 | |
| 8 | M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING | 19 | Toyota | 160 |
+8.512 3:14'07.423 |
0.908 | 7 | 39 | |
| 9 | C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 9 | Chevrolet | 160 |
+9.144 3:14'08.055 |
0.632 | 8 | 43 | |
| 10 | B. Wallace23XI RACING | 23 | Toyota | 160 |
+12.089 3:14'11.000 |
2.945 | 7 | 27 | |
| 11 | C. BuescherRFK RACING | 17 | Ford | 160 |
+12.591 3:14'11.502 |
0.502 | 7 | 26 | |
| 12 | C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING | 20 | Toyota | 160 |
+12.967 3:14'11.878 |
0.376 | 7 | 30 | |
| 13 | K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 5 | Chevrolet | 160 |
+15.901 3:14'14.812 |
2.934 | 9 | 29 | |
| 14 | E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB | 43 | Toyota | 160 |
+16.636 3:14'15.547 |
0.735 | 7 | 30 | |
| 15 | C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING | 14 | Ford | 160 |
+17.621 3:14'16.532 |
0.985 | 7 | 22 | |
| 16 | D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING | 99 | Chevrolet | 160 |
+18.095 3:14'17.006 |
0.474 | 9 | 21 | |
| 17 |
C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
|
77 | Chevrolet | 160 |
+19.701 3:14'18.612 |
1.606 | 9 | 20 | |
| 18 | A. CindricTEAM PENSKE | 2 | Ford | 160 |
+20.368 3:14'19.279 |
0.667 | 6 | 19 | |
| 19 | C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS | 7 | Chevrolet | 160 |
+21.110 3:14'20.021 |
0.742 | 9 | 18 | |
| 20 | J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING | 4 | Ford | 160 |
+21.415 3:14'20.326 |
0.305 | 9 | 17 | |
| 21 | A. AllmendingerKAULIG RACING | 16 | Chevrolet | 160 |
+23.784 3:14'22.695 |
2.369 | 9 | ||
| 22 | J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING | 51 | Ford | 160 |
+23.987 3:14'22.898 |
0.203 | 9 | 15 | |
| 23 | A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING | 3 | Chevrolet | 160 |
+26.992 3:14'25.903 |
3.005 | 13 | 14 | |
| 24 | M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS | 34 | Ford | 158 |
+2 Laps 3:14'28.191 |
2 Laps | 9 | 13 | |
| 25 | D. HemricKAULIG RACING | 31 | Chevrolet | 153 |
+7 Laps 3:09'27.552 |
5 Laps | 11 | 12 | |
| 26 | C. WareRICK WARE RACING | 15 | Ford | 134 |
+26 Laps 3:11'24.199 |
19 Laps | 11 | 11 | |
| 27 |
T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING
|
54 | Toyota | 132 |
+28 Laps 2:47'49.042 |
2 Laps | 8 | 10 | |
| 28 | J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB | 42 | Toyota | 126 |
+34 Laps 2:31'22.604 |
6 Laps | 7 | 9 | |
| 29 |
Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
|
71 | Chevrolet | 126 |
+34 Laps 2:31'22.705 |
0.101 | 7 | 8 | |
| 30 | R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING | 41 | Ford | 121 |
+39 Laps 2:20'52.483 |
5 Laps | 12 | 7 | |
| 31 | H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING | 21 | Ford | 121 |
+39 Laps 2:22'01.601 |
1'09.118 | 15 | 6 | |
| 32 | K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING | 8 | Chevrolet | 120 |
+40 Laps 2:18'43.815 |
1 Lap | 9 | 5 | |
| 33 | R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING | 47 | Chevrolet | 120 |
+40 Laps 2:18'44.142 |
0.327 | 6 | 4 | |
| 34 | T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS | 38 | Ford | 115 |
+45 Laps 2:08'51.395 |
5 Laps | 7 | 3 | |
| 35 | J. YeleyNY RACING TEAM | 44 | Chevrolet | 112 |
+48 Laps 2:06'44.221 |
3 Laps | 7 | ||
| 36 | R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING | 1 | Chevrolet | 53 |
+107 Laps 59'50.384 |
59 Laps | 7 | 1 | |
| 37 | N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING | 10 | Ford | 13 |
+147 Laps 12'07.171 |
40 Laps | 2 | 1 |
