Ryan Blaney battles adversity to third-place finish at Pocono

LONG POND, Pa. — After winning at Pocono Raceway in 2024, Ryan Blaney very nearly pulled off another impressive victory Sunday afternoon. 

Ultimately coming home with a third-place finish, Ryan Blaney had to battle adversity from the second the green flag dropped at Pocono. He started the race in the rear of the field after his team replaced the starter on his No. 12 car. 

Blaney found out early on – on lap 15 – his cool suit wasn’t working. He made a little progress in the first stage but not enough to capture stage points.

Before the second stage started, he pitted for tires and fuel. Then, he used two cautions in the stage to top off on fuel.

After the second stop, he found himself in the rear of the field again for speeding on pit road.

Luckily, topping off on fuel did the trick. During pit stops after a caution on lap 78, Blaney didn’t need to take as much fuel. He restarted eighth with less than 20 laps to go in the stage and finished eighth in the stage.

In the final stage, Blaney found himself in contention for the win. In the 22 laps between the final stage going green and his final pit stop, he grabbed two spots and cycled to third when a caution came out a lap after he pitted.

On the final restart, with 30 laps to go, Blaney was breathing down the neck of race leader Chase Briscoe, who was in fuel saving mode, and teammate Denny Hamlin who was struggling to pass. Briscoe never ran out of fuel and held off Hamlin and Blaney for the win.

Had Hamlin been able to take the fight to Briscoe, Blaney could’ve had an opportunity to go for the win. However, that never materialized.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway this Saturday for the Quaker State 400. In the first round of NASCAR’s in-season tournament, No. 7 seed Ryan Blaney will face No. 26 Carson Hocevar.