Who… should you be talking about after the race?
He got his first career win at Pocono Raceway in 2017, and on Sunday (July 14), Ryan Blaney took home his 12th in the Great American Getaway 400. Blaney led the final 44 laps on his way to his second victory of 2024.
With Denny Hamlin looming in his rearview, Blaney navigated four late restarts, coming away with the lead every time. His 44 laps led were the most of any driver. The reigning Cup champion leaves Pocono fifth in the current playoff standings as he looks to defend his 2023 title.
And don’t forget William Byron. Byron entered the weekend as a favorite to contend for the win, and while he didn’t lead a lap on Sunday, he ran a smart, solid race, and for Byron, that was what the doctor ordered.
After a hot start to the year, Byron has been inconsistent this summer. Pocono was his second top five in the last seven weeks, with three finishes of 19th or worse in the same stretch. Byron is already locked into the playoffs, so a strong finish to the regular season would but him in good position to contend for the title.
What… is the big question leaving this race in the rearview?
After Pocono announced a sellout for Sunday’s race, many fans struggled to get to the track on time for the race to start. A brief but heavy thunderstorm over the track complicated matters as parking attendants were told to take cover.
The track has vowed to make things right for fans:
It’s easy to second-guess the situation after the fact, and hopefully whatever the track offers will make things right to the fans who missed half of the event.
Going forward, is there anything that can or should be done?
Again, it’s easy to say what should be done, but in reality, much of the traffic pattern is determined by the track’s location and the roads leading to it. Rural locations tend to be restricted to roads that are mostly a single line in either direction, and rebuilding entire sections of them for a once-a-year event is impractical. If races were restricted to tracks with several multi-lane highways leading in and out, there wouldn’t…
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