Ryan Blaney Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Cup Series regular season comes to an end right where it all began back in February as Daytona International Speedway is set to host Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Two battles will be taking place on Saturday as Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are set to duke it out for the regular season championship, while just one spot remains up for grabs in the Playoffs. Of the drivers still looking to race their way in, TylerRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Ryan Blaney took the lead on a restart with eight laps remaining and skillfully held off a frantic field to earn the victory Sunday in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in the penultimate race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season. Those eight laps out front were the only laps Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford led on the afternoon but it was good enough to give him his second victory of the season – by a modern-day track record marginRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The end of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season is in sight with just two races remaining before the Playoff field is set. After a stretch of road course races, the series returns to an oval this weekend with Sunday’s running of the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning here for bragging rights. The two-mile speedway tends to favor the teams thatRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer On a chaotic Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis, you’ll have an extremely hard time finding any driver but AJ Allmendinger smiling. Ryan Blaney was among those bummed after finishing second in the Verizon 200. Not because of the madness during the final hour, but simply getting the shortest straw. During the final restart, Blaney was fifth and one of the few competitors who weren’t snake bitten by the dreaded Turn 6 curbs. Suddenly, shenanigans happened in front of him as Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe eliminatedRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service INDIANAPOLIS – The first NASCAR Cup Series road course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was full of drama – for A.J. Allmendinger, who led only the last two laps of overtime to secure his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday, and for those who fell short of the cherished trophy in an action-packed final few laps. Denny Hamlin was leading the race on the final restart with two laps to go before being hit from behind by rookie Chase Briscoe in Turn 10,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor INDIANAPOLIS – It’s not the typical oval weekend for the NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the series takes on the track’s infield road course for the first time. After a mostly incident-free practice session Saturday morning, led by Martin Truex, Jr. with a lap of 1 minute, 29.577 seconds the question was posed to a number of drivers to see what they thought of racing on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile infield road course. Naturally, Truex had nothing but positive things to say about theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service With a stunning victory in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Aric Almirola sent shock waves through the NASCAR Cup Series’ Playoff standings. With hard-charging Christopher Bell closing behind him, Almirola crossed the finish line at the 1.058-mile track .657 seconds ahead of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to win the third race of his career and give Stewart-Haas Racing its first ostensible Playoff berth of the 2021 campaign. After battling Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney—who wagedRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kurt Busch out-dueled his younger brother Kyle Busch in the pair’s fourth career 1-2 finish to secure his 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs position and take his 33rd career victory in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart. Busch, 42, has been particularly good at the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sunday’s win was his fourth there, most among the current field, and the last trophy given before the historic NASCAR track is repaved and reconfigured going forward. More importantly Sunday’s work was a bigRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The end of an era. With the oldest track surface in NASCAR, having not been repaved since it’s 1997 reconfiguration, Atlanta Motor Speedway always gets rave reviews from drivers who enjoy slipping and sliding around on the worn-out surface. To come home victorious in Sunday’s Quaker State 400, drivers will have a war on two fronts to battle. First, tire management will play a big role in the final outcome of the race with the abrasiveness that the track offers over the course of a run.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service With remarkable perseverance behind the wheel of a car stuck in fourth gear, Kyle Busch saved enough fuel to win Sunday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 350, the second leg of a weekend NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Pocono Raceway. After William Byron and Denny Hamlin ran out of gas ahead of him, Busch cruised to an 8.654-second victory over Kyle Larson, who started from the rear of the field in a backup car after crashing while leading in the final corner of Saturday’s race.Read More