Ryan Blaney finally wins at Martinsville
Ryan Blaney will go to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Four as the most recent winner as he won Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
Going into Sunday, Blaney led the series in terms of average finish (9.5) and had only one finish worse than 11th since fall 2017, including two runner-up finishes.
However, Sunday was his first win at the 0.533-mile Virginia short track.
Blaney entered the race just 10 points above the cutline. Chomping at that advantage, from 17 points back, were Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. – the all-time Cup Series wins leaders at Martinsville.
Blaney answered the call, placing second and first in the stages.
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 130): Hamlin, Blaney, Truex, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 260): Blaney, Hamlin, Briscoe, Logano, Keselowski, Gibbs, Preece, Todd Gilliland, Harvick, Bell
Blaney led four times for 145 laps and battled Denny Hamlin hard, almost coming to blows on the backstretch. Cooler heads and strategy prevailed as Blaney passed Hamlin, ran down Aric Almirola for the lead and led 23 laps to win.
TOP-10 FINISHERS: Blaney, Almirola, Hamlin, Briscoe, Logano, Larson, Bell, Buescher, Austin Cindric, Gilliland, Bubba Wallace, Truex
FINAL ROUND OF 8 STANDINGS
- Kyle Larson – WIN (Las Vegas)
- Christopher Bell – WIN (Homestead-Miami)
- Ryan Blaney – WIN (Martinsville
- William Byron: +8 points
- Denny Hamlin: -8
- Martin Truex Jr: -28
- Tyler Reddick: -43
- Chris Buescher: -58
FOOTNOTES
12 lead changes: Truex laps 0-47, Hamlin 48-193, Blaney 194-218, Hamlin 219-226, Blaney 227-228, Hamlin 229, Blaney 230-324, Hamlin 325, Elliott 326-331, LaJoie 332-334, Elliott 335-411, Almirola 412-477, Blaney 478-500
Six leaders: Hamlin (4x for 156 laps), Blaney (4x for 145 laps), Elliott (twice for 83 laps), Almirola (66 laps), Truex (47 laps), LaJoie (three laps)
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com