Ryan Blaney didn’t have to stress about fuel on Sunday (July 14) afternoon, saving enough to earn his second win of 2024.
The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion held the lead on the final restart and drove away from Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman to claim his second win in the last five races.
“Things are really falling into place for us,” Blaney told USA Network post-race. “It’s nice to stick to the plan today. Our plan was to have track position at the end, and our car was fast enough. So cool to win here again.”
Hamlin and Bowman made up the rest of the podium in second and third, with William Byron and Joey Logano rounding out the top five.
Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski finished sixth and seventh, respectively, with Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace rounding out the top 10 in eighth through 10th, respectively.
The calm run to the checkered flag was pre-empted by a chaotic first 130 laps.
Noah Gragson was the first casualty of the day, as the No. 10 car spun into the turn 1 wall on lap 14. The crash relegated Gragson to a last-place finish.
Strategy immediately started to show its hand after the first caution of the day, as Bell, Logano and the majority of the back half of the field made their way down pit road.
With drivers such as Chastain, Blaney and Ty Gibbs pitting late in stage one, Truex coasted to the stage one victory. The stage win was Truex’s third of 2024.
On the ensuing restart, Keselowski and Logano were on the front row, with Keselowski pulling away to the lead off of turn 1. With Keselowski, Logano and the majority of the top 20 needing to pit, a caution for Ross Chastain enabled them to do so under yellow. Chastain spun and incurred damage on the right side of his car coming out of turn 3 before going straight into turn 1.
The top contenders – including Hamlin, Truex, Byron and Blaney – all took two tires on their next pit stop, further opening up the strategy rabbit hole. Gibbs, however, stayed out, assuming the lead for the restart. Josh Berry then took the lead away from Gibbs, but his old tires were no match for the fresh rubber of Hamlin, who took the lead on lap 67.
Austin Cindric headed pit stops for a group of cars that needed to pit, including Gibbs and Berry.
Hamlin won stage two, with the likes of Blaney and Truex pitting before the end of the stage. Hamlin pitted under caution, losing nine spots on pit road.
It would be Berry and…
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