Ryan Blaney just clinched his third win of the year, utterly dominating at New Hampshire Motor Speedway by leading 115 of the final 164 laps. This victory, his second in five races, has him feeling good heading into the NASCAR Chase, which kicks off in just two weeks. Only the regular-season finale at Daytona this Saturday remains before the 16-driver field is set in stone.
Blaney’s New Hampshire Repeat Amidst A Penske Power Surge
Blaney’s win at New Hampshire wasn’t just another notch on his belt; it marked his second victory at the track in as many years. What’s wild is he had to battle back from a brutal pit stop in the final stage to do it. “It is cool to win here two in a row,” Blaney said in his post-race interview. This win is also a HUGE signal for Team Penske. They’ve now ripped off four wins in the last six Cup races after only winning once in the first 19 events of the year. Both Blaney and Joey Logano have snagged two victories each in just the last six weeks alone. Blaney confirmed the team’s focus, stating in his news conference, “Everybody in our race shop is really dedicated to getting better if we need to get better places. We’re really executing at the places where we’ve been really good in the past. Props to them. They’ve been fantastic on figuring out where we need to go.” That kind of dedication? It’s why they’re looking like a real threat right now.
Hamlin Crowned Regular Season Champ, Chase Field Solidifies
While Blaney was tearing it up, Denny Hamlin quietly locked up the regular season title with a seventh-place finish. That’s a massive deal: he’ll roll into the Chase with a 25-point lead on the second seed and at least a 50-point cushion on most of the 16-driver field. Despite his 64 Cup wins, Hamlin is still chasing that elusive Cup title. “I feel good about where our team is right now. Everyone is kind of clicking well and we don’t have a whole lot of weaknesses,” Hamlin shared, though he admitted they’re “just not as strong as the Penske cars on these types of race tracks.” Seven drivers had already punched their tickets to the Chase before New Hampshire, but six more clinched their spots Sunday. Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, and Daniel Suárez can all breathe easy heading into Daytona. Bubba Wallace had a solid second-place finish and is practically in, needing just two points at Daytona with his 75-point lead on Ryan Preece, the first driver out. Wallace is still hunting for his first win of the year, but locking into the Chase is huge. Josh Berry, also driving for Penske, snagged a third-place finish and led 73 laps, proving he can perform as Penske charges. Austin Cindric is up by 44 points, and Shane van Gisbergen is holding on at 31 points ahead of Preece. Only Preece and Brad Keselowski have a shot at breaking into the top-16 at Daytona, and Keselowski is in a tough spot at minus-66 points, needing a win and some serious help. Preece isn’t backing down, saying, “I’m on offense. I’m not playing defense, so we’ll go into Daytona swinging and we’ll keep digging.”
This Saturday at Daytona is going to be absolutely wild. With the regular-season finale standing between these drivers and the Chase field, every single point matters. Can Preece or Keselowski crash the party? Will Bubba Wallace finally get that elusive win? We’re about to find out who’s ready for the high-stakes game of the NASCAR Chase. Get ready for some serious action!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
Leave a Reply