Jun
In a convincing way, Ryan Blaney put an end to an extended NASCAR Cup winless streak and gave iconic racing owner Roger Penske another significant triumph.
With 20 of the 400 laps still to go, Blaney took the lead on the final restart, holding off William Byron by 0.663 seconds to win Monday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway despite a race that saw 16 flags and was postponed by rainfall for an entire day.
Throughout the race, Blaney and Byron had exchanged the lead several times, with Byron having the added benefit of the No. 1 pit stall, which frequently gave him the advantage off pit road.
Although he did triumph in the non-points All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway the previous year, this title marks Blaney’s first in the points since his triumph in August 2021 at Daytona.
“I might shed a tear,” said Blaney as the crowd chanted his name repeatedly behind him. “This has been a cool weekend. Obviously Memorial Day weekend means a lot, growing up here watching dad run this race for a long time. It’s so cool just to be a part of it, let alone win it.
“I just was able to get the lead on the race car, and that car was so good that I could kind of bide my time a little bit and then we were able to drive off. I was hoping no (late) caution just because you never know. I know we had the car to do it, but restarts can be crazy.”
When asked what winning means given that his previous triumph occurred almost two years prior, Blaney responded, “You start to get to feel like you can’t win anymore when you don’t win in a while. It kind of gets hard. So, just super thankful to the No. 12 guys for believing in me. Thank you (fans) for sticking around. Really appreciate it.”
With this victory, Penske, the owner of Blaney’s squad, became the first person to win both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same Memorial Day weekend. Josef Newgarden, a Penske racer, won the Indy 500 on Sunday.
Much like his Indy rival Newgarden did on Sunday, Blaney walked into the grandstands to share the joy with audience members after bringing his No. 12 Ford to a stop on the frontstretch.
The next three finishers were Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, and Tyler Reddick from 23XI Racing.
Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Austin Dillon, and Zane Smith, who competed in just his sixth Cup appearance overall in the longest race of the year, rounded out the top ten.
Due to a delay, Monday’s 600 was also the first time since 2009 that the race was held on the Memorial Day holiday.
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Nascar, NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity, NASCAR 2023, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Coca-Cola 600, Penske
