Ryan Blaney Wins First Career Race at Pocono 400
- Jun 14, 2017
“Yeah, so we did a great job,” Blaney said. “Jeremy Bullins and everybody did a great job of positioning ourselves to start towards the front on tires. When the 18 stayed out, he looked to be the best car all day, and it's almost a curse when you're that good. Everyone just kind of does the opposite of what you do in that situation. We've been on the bad side of that before.”
Blaney only led once, the last 10 laps of the race, but led the most important lap of all, the last. Blaney finished with 40 points, 5 playoff points, and currently sits in 12th place with 360 points and 8 playoff points.
Blaney became the 19th different driver to win for the Wood Brothers Racing team and the first since Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 in 2011.
"I think it exceeds the dream a little bit," Blaney said. "I grew up watching my dad (Dave Blaney) race on this race track, and it’s so cool to get the Wood Brothers in Victory Lane, number one, and to do it here at a racetrack that is really close to Ohio – a home to me – is pretty awesome."
Kevin Harvick came in second place, just losing out on the win by .139 seconds. Harvick did not lead once during the race.
"The 21 (Blaney) could charge the corner a little bit harder than I could, and my best bet, the way I passed people all day was waiting for him to slip up off the bottom, and he never slipped up off the bottom,” said Harvick. “So I just didn't have enough laps to finish that last pass off, and Ryan did a good job of not slipping a wheel with the amount of laps that he had left and was able to hold on."
Erik Jones finished in third place, the Sunoco Rookie of the year. This was Jones’s career best finish, and led twice for 20 laps.
“It's kind of -- it's great to run there and it feels really good to get a top 5, but man, when you're that close and you're seeing them battle for the win and you're right there trying to pounce and make a move, it definitely makes you eager to go up there and try to get it,” Jones said. “Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, and hopefully we can keep running well and keep getting in contention for more.”
Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut Sunday and finished 26th with three pit road speeding penalties. Martin Truex Jr. continues to lead the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings, with 584 points and 18 playoff points. Kyle Larson is in second place with 583 points and 8 playoff points. Kevin Harvick is in third place with 480 points and 3 playoff points.
The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 18th. | |||
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