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Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney celebrates in Victory Lane after winning The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Pocono Raceway. Photo credit: Pocono Raceway.
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, whose first Cup Series victory came at Pocono Raceway in 2017, added another Sunday for his second victory of the season.
LONG POND, Pa. (July 14, 2024) – It may have been a different Victory Lane and team when Ryan Blaney won at Pocono Raceway seven years ago, but the feeling of elation was the same Sunday after winning The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA NASCAR Cup Series race.
Before a sold-out crowd for the second consecutive year, Blaney fended off last week’s winner Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports and then seven-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin in the waning laps of the 160-lap, 400-mile race to become a two-time winner at “The Tricky Triangle.” His other win – the first of his Cup Series career – came in 2017 while driving for the Wood Brothers.
“I really think it’s just special. I feel like every win is very special,” Blaney said. “You have to cherish them. You never know when the next one is going to come. Hard to believe it’s been seven years since I won the first time here. Time definitely flies. Like I said, different Victory Lane. I think this Victory Lane is pretty neat. All the fans being there, giving them an experience, too.
“I feel like you approach it a little bit differently seven years later. It was cool that I got my 12th win in the 12 car where I got my first win. That’s kind of a neat little tidbit. Just a really cool day.”
Blaney blended a fast car with a great strategy, where the team opted to forgo stage points for track position and ultimately a win, to collect his second win of the season. He didn’t finish among the top 10 and accumulate points in the first two stages, but there he was front and center when it came to the third and final stage.
“It certainly played out a little differently than we had planned,” Blaney’s crew chief Jonathan Hassler said. “You have a plan coming in, but then the way cautions fall certainly dictates really kind of the way everything else works out. I think that caution around Lap 50 of the second stage really kind of diverted the strategy, spread the field out where we had an opportunity to short pit, flip the stage there going into stage three, get our track position at the right time.”
RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher, a previous Pocono winner, held the lead through the opening of the third stage before a caution came out on Lap 116 for a single-car incident with Todd Gilliland in Turn 1. A number of contenders pitted, including Blaney who came out with the lead on 117. Pit road speeding penalties for Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, along with polesitter Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing, spoiled any opportunity for a shot to contend for the win or a top-five finish.
Blaney would lead the final 44 laps, but he did not cruise to a victory. Three cautions would fly during that period, but he was strong on the restarts to keep Bowman and Hamlin at bay. Bowman closed to .2 of a second with 19 to go but Blaney slowly stretched that lead out. Hamlin would overtake Bowman for second with seven to go and 2.3 seconds behind, but could only close to 1.312 seconds at the checkered.
Bowman finished third, William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports fourth and Blaney’s teammate Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
“Never lose a race, just always run out of time, right? That’s just part of it,” Hamlin said. “Track position is such a big thing. When the 12 (Blaney) jumped on that stage that we won, that put them in front of us. Certainly was going to be hard to pass. Not just enough laps of green there towards the end. Hats off to them. Great run. He kept great pace up there towards the front. Really hard for me to even try to get close to reeling him in.”
For more information about Pocono Raceway, please visit www.poconoraceway.com.
About Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway, also known as ‘The Tricky Triangle,’ is family-owned and situated in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. In business for over 50 years, the Raceway hosts multiple, national motorsports events including the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series events each year. The facility’s calendar also consists of over 200 events including Elements Music & Arts Festival and a wide range of non-motorsports entertainment, car clubs and racing schools. Pocono Raceway is recognized as the world’s first, privately-owned solar-powered sports facility. Their 25-acre, three-megawatt solar farm provides the energy needs of the Raceway, as well as, adds electricity to the local power grid. Each member of our raceway staff is committed to creating exciting experiences and lifelong memories. For more information, please visit www.poconoraceway.com.
The number 12 was the lucky number of the day for Ryan Blaney as he muscled his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse to his 12th NASCAR Cup Series career victory in The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 14.
The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion from High Point, North Carolina, led the final 44 of 160 scheduled laps in an event where he started in eighth place and spent the majority of the event racing toward the front.
After surrendering points to pit before the first two stage’s conclusion as part of a pit strategy plan that was also enforced by every participant from start to finish, Blaney cycled into the lead following a late pit stop, where he pitted with the field, during a caution period with less than 45 laps remaining. The initial leader, Kyle Larson, was among four competitors who were penalized for speeding on pit road.
Despite having his momentum and steady launches from restarts with the lead stalled due to three late-race caution periods, Blaney capitalized on the final restart period with 23 laps remaining to rocket ahead of Alex Bowman amid a strong shove from Denny Hamlin. From there, Blaney kept both Hamlin and Bowman trailing by as far as a second before he claimed his second Cup Series victory of the 2024 season and gained added momentum with the 2024 Playoffs looming as he strives to defend his series championship.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 13, Ty Gibbs scored his second Cup pole position of the 2024 season and his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 170.039 mph in 52.929 seconds. Joining him on the front row was William Byron, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 169.661 mph in 53.047 seconds.
Before the event, Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field with a new oil line attached to his No. 8 zone/GetGo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Corey LaJoie also dropped to the rear of the field due to repairs made to his suspension of the No. 7 Parity in Paris Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 following his qualifying run.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the Charlotte duos of Ty Gibbs and William Byron dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and in front of a tight two-by-two formation between the field until Gibbs tried to muscle ahead from the outside lane in Turn 1. Byron, however, fought back through Long Pond Straightaway and through the Tunnel Curve as both he and Gibbs remained dead even in front of Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. With the field navigating back to the frontstretch, Gibbs, who steered his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE towards the bottom of the track, managed to lead the first lap ahead of Byron.
As Gibbs cleared Byron during the second lap and entering Turn 1, Byron fended off Truex and Hamlin for the runner-up spot as Tyler Reddick tried to close in from fifth place. With Byron leading a parade of competitors that included Truex, Hamlin, Reddick, teammate Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney from the runner-up spot, Gibbs stretched his early advantage to more than a second by the fifth lap mark.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by three seconds over Byron as Truex, Hamlin and Reddick trailed in the top five. Behind, Blaney occupied sixth place ahead of Bowman, Kyle Larson, rookie Josh Berry and Christopher Bell while Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, rookie Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher were scored in the top 15 ahead of rookie Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Austin Cindric. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton was mired in 21st place ahead of Michael McDowell, Erik Jones, Noah Gragon and Chase Briscoe while AJ Allmendinger, Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric and Corey LaJoie were mired in the top 30, with Todd Gilliland, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Cody Ware and JJ Yeley rounding out the 37-car field.
Four laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Noah Gragson, who was running in 24th place, spun and backed his No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the outside wall in Turn 1, where he emerged with rear-end damage and retired from further competition. During the event’s first competition period, some of the drivers, including the front-runners led by Gibbs, remained on the track while the rest led by Bell pitted.
When the race restarted on Lap 17, the field jumbled up into two tight lanes through the frontstretch as Gibbs led the field through the first turn. Then as Josh Berry went up the track through Turn 1 and plummeted below the leaderboard, Gibbs, who also went wide in Turn 1, muscled his No. 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE into the lead. Teammate Hamlin would follow suit and overtake Byron for the runner-up spot just past the Tunnel Curve as Gibbs, who slipped to fifth place, went three wide with Blaney and Chase Elliott as they battled for the spot. Bowman trailed the trio of Blaney, Gibbs and Elliott through the frontstretch and Reddick navigated his way into third place as he passed Byron and then set his sights on owner Hamlin for more. By then, Berry pitted his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green as Truex proceeded to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin by Lap 20.
At the Lap 25 mark, Truex stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Hamlin as Reddick, Blaney and Byron trailed in the top five ahead of Gibbs, Elliott, Bowman, Zane Smith and Larson. Behind, Logano and Keselowski battled for 11th place as Bell, Erik Jones and Cindric were racing in the top 15. By then, Bubba Wallace pitted his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE under green as he was also able to blend back onto the track ahead of the leader Truex without losing a lap. Soon after, third-place Blaney along with Gibbs, Zane Smith, Larson, Cindric and Ross Chastain pitted their respective entries under green as part of a strategic move by Lap 27 while Truex retained the lead by a second over teammate Hamlin and by three seconds over third-place Reddick.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Truex claimed his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Hamlin followed suit in second place and by a second on the track while Reddick, Byron, Elliott, Bowman, Logano, Keselowski, Bell and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10. By then, 36 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, the front-runners led by Truex and including Hamlin, Reddick, Byron and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Logano, Keselowski and Bell remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 35 as Logano and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Logano and Keselowski dueled for the lead through the frontstretch as Keselowski muscled his No. 6 Nexlizet Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead with the lead. As Logano went wide in Turn 1 while losing a bevy of spots in the process, Keselowski retained the lead in front of the field through Long Pond Straightaway and through the Tunnel Curve before he navigated his way back to Turn 3 and the frontstretch, where he led the next lap as Erik Jones, Bell, Buescher and Hocevar followed suit in the top five.
Keselowski would proceed to lead the Lap 40 mark by a second over Jones as Bell, Buescher and Hocevar continued to pursue the lead in the top five. Behind, Chase Briscoe was up to sixth place ahead of Michael McDowell, Logano, Stenhouse and Elliott while Suarez, Kyle Busch, LaJoie, Hamlin and Justin Haley were in the top 15.
By Lap 45, Keselowski stretched his advantage to three seconds over runner-up Erik Jones while Bell, Buescher and Hocevar continued to trail in the top five and within six seconds. Behind, Elliott, the highest-running competitor on the track who pitted during the first stage break, muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into sixth place after he overtook Briscoe while McDowell, Logano and Hamlin followed suit in the top 10. Meanwhile, Stenhouse was in 11th place ahead of Suarez, Busch, Gibbs and Blaney while Byron, LaJoie, Truex, Haley and Zane Smith were in the top 20 ahead of Larson, Chastain, Wallace, Reddick, Harrison Burton and Bowman.
On Lap 52, the caution flew when Ross Chastain, who slipped sideways and hit the outside wall in Turn 3, limped his No. 1 Busch Light Peach Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch before he went dead straight and smacked the outside wall in Turn 1, where he proceeded to limp his damaged car to his pit stall. Despite his pit crew’s efforts to repair the car, Chastain’s event came to an end as his 2024 Cup Playoffs hopes were jeopardized.
During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service while the rest led by Gibbs, Cindric and Berry remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of teammate Truex, Byron, Blaney, Zane Smith, Elliott, Larson, Keselowski, Bowman and Bell. Amid the pit stops, Hocevar was penalized for an equipment interference, Gilliland was busted for speeding on pit road and Harrison Burton was penalized for a safety violation. In addition, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon would spend extra time in their respective pit stalls to have their brake serviced.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 58 featured a heated battle between Gibbs and Berry through the frontstretch. As the field began to fan out, Berry managed to muscle ahead with the lead as Hamlin battled teammate Gibbs for the runner-up spot. With the field still fanning out from Long Pond Straightaway to the Tunnel Curve, Berry retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Gibbs, Hamlin, Byron and Cindric while Truex was in sixth ahead of Bowman, Blaney, Zane Smith and Keselowski.
Just past the Lap 65 mark, Berry retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin while Gibbs settled in third place as he trailed the lead by nearly two seconds. Behind, Hendrick Motorsports’ Byron and Elliott trailed in the top five as Blaney, Truex, Keselowski, Cindric and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10. Shortly after, however, Hamlin gained a strong run on Berry from Turn 3 to overtake him entering the frontstretch and move his No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota Camry XSE into the lead on Lap 67. Hamlin would then proceed to lead at the Lap 70 mark by a second over Berry while Elliott overtook Gibbs for third place.
On Lap 72, Cindric pitted his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse from the top 11 and he spent extra time in his pit stall while his pit crew filled up the car with enough fuel for the second stage’s conclusion. Back on the track, Gibbs fended off Blaney for fourth place while Hamlin continued to lead by two seconds over Berry as third-place Elliott started to close in on Berry for more. Gibbs would then pit under green from fourth place on Lap 75 before Berry, who was overtaken by Elliott earlier, pitted two laps later.
At the halfway mark on Lap 80, Hamlin, who was among many trying to conserve fuel, was leading by four seconds over Elliott as Blaney, Truex and Keselowski were racing in the top five ahead of Buescher, Byron, Erik Jones, Larson and Bowman. Meanwhile, Bell was in 11th place ahead of Logano, Reddick, LaJoie and Briscoe while Zane Smith, Ryan Preece, Allmendinger, Stenhouse and Suarez trailed in the top 20 ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, Burton, McDowell, Wallace and Gilliland. By then, Busch was mired in 30th place while Gibbs, Berry and Cindric were mired back from 33rd to 35th, respectively, despite remaining on the lead lap category.
With five laps remaining in the second stage period, Buescher surrendered his spot from the top 10 to pit his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green, all while Hamlin stabilized his advantage to nearly four seconds over Elliott. Blaney and Truex would then surrender third and fourth place on the track, respectively, to pit with three laps remaining in the second stage period.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 95, Hamlin captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Elliott trailed in second place by five seconds while Keselowski, Byron, Erik Jones, Larson, Bowman, Bell, Logano and Redick were scored in the top 10. By then, all who recently pitted, including Cindric, Truex, Gibbs, Blaney, Berr and Buescher remained on the lead lap as a total of 32 in the field of 37 were scored on the same lap as the leader Hamlin.
During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Hamlin pitted for service while select names led by Buescher and including Berry, Blaney, Gibbs and Truex remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Reddick exited pit road first ahead of Keselowski, Gilliland, Larson and Erik Jones while Hamlin exited in 10th place behind Logano, Elliott, Bowman and Byron. Amid the pit stops, LaJoie was penalized for speeding on pit road.
With 60 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Buescher and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to three lanes through the frontstretch as Buescher rocketed ahead with the lead from the outside lane through Turn 1. Behind, a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Blaney, Truex and Berry through Long Pond Straightaway, with Blaney continuing to battle Truex for the spot just past the Tunnel Curve while Berry was trying to fend off Larson for fourth place. Amid a series of jostles for late spots, Buescher stretched his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds as he led the next lap period.
With 55 laps remaining, Buescher stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Blaney while third-place Truex trailed by two seconds. Keselowski and Larson followed suit in the top five as Gibbs, Reddick, Elliott, Logano and Hamlin were mired in the top 10. Buescher would continue to lead by more than a second over Blaney with 50 laps remaining as Berry pitted from the top 15 under green. Ultimately, Berry would lose a lap to the leaders following an extensive service due to the Tennessean sliding through his pit box.
With 46 laps remaining, the caution returned when Todd Gilliland, who fell off the pace through the frontstretch while running in the top 25, scraped his No. 38 C.H. REED Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the outside wall in Turn 1. During the caution period, the entire lead lap field led by Buescher, all of whom were within their fuel window to reach the scheduled distance, pitted for service. Following the pit stops and amid more mixed strategies, Larson gained four spots to exit pit road in first place as he was followed by Blaney, Elliott, Hamlin, Bowman, Logano, Byron, Truex, Bell and Keselowski. Shortly after, however, Larson along with teammate Elliott, Suarez and Gibbs were sent to the rear of the field due to speeding in Section 7 on pit road. As a result, Blaney cycled into the lead.
The start of the next restart period with 40 laps remaining did not last long when Kyle Busch, who restarted 16th, was turned by LaJoie, whom he was trying to block amid the three-wide battle, as he spun from the bottom apron entering Turn 1, shot back across the track and collided into both Preece and Stenhouse as Stenhouse spun backward and smacked the outside wall hard while Preece clipped Burton as both spun through the turn. Allmendinger, Hocevar and Cindric would also get involved in the carnage. The accident not only capped off Busch’s long event that commenced with starting at the rear of the field with a new oil line to his No. 8 Chevrolet, but it negatively affected his hopes of making the 2024 Cup Playoffs yet again as the Pocono wreck marked his fifth DNF in seven races and his sixth time finishing outside the top 20 over the last nine races.
As the event restarted under green with 34 laps remaining, Blaney, who received a strong shove from Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the outside lane during the previous restart period, received the same help from Bowman through the frontstretch for the current restart period as he muscled his No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead through Turn 1 while Bowman retained second ahead of Hamlin, Logano, Byron and Bell. The caution, however, would quickly return when Zane Smith, who was trying to charge his way into the top 15, got pinned in between Nemechek and McDowell resulting in McDowell hitting the outside wall in Long Pond Straightaway while both Smith and Nemechek were sent spinning and colliding into the inside wall.
The start of the next restart period with 29 laps remaining featured Blaney trying to fend off Bowman through the frontstretch as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. A lap later, the caution returned due to fluid on the course as the pole-sitter Gibbs, who fell off the pace during the restart, was trying to limp his car back to his pit stall after his engine blew up with both smoke and fluid coming out of the exhaust pipe.
With the race restarting with 23 laps remaining, Blaney received a shove from Hamlin on the outside lane to edge ahead of Bowman entering the first turn and he would retain the lead through Long Pond Straightaway while Hamlin and Bowman battled dead even for second place in front of Byron and Logano. Bell and Truex would battle for seventh place in front of Wallace and Keselowski as both Bowman and Hamlin battled dead even for second place in front of Byron and Logano while Blaney, who led the next lap, stretched his advantage to more than half a second.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Blaney continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bowman as Bowman started to close back in on Blaney for the top spot. Behind, Hamlin retained third place ahead of Byron and Logano while Reddick, Truex, Keselowski, Wallace and Elliott were scored in the top 10 ahead of Bell, Buescher, Larson, Briscoe and Suarez.
Five laps later, Blaney stretched his advantage to more than a second over Bowman as Hamlin, Byron and Logano trailed within three seconds in the top five. Blaney would stabilize his advantage to a second over Bowman with 10 laps remaining as Hamlin, Byron and Logano continued to trail in the top five. By then, Reddick retained sixth place ahead of Keselowski while Truex was back in eighth place as he was running ahead of Elliott and Wallace.
With five laps remaining, Blaney retained the lead by more than two seconds in his No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang Dark Horse over Hamlin, who overtook Bowman with a bold pass from the outside lane in Turn 3 three laps earlier. Meanwhile, Byron would retain fourth place just ahead of Logano, Reddick and Keselowski while eighth-place Truex trailed the lead by seven seconds. By then, Larson was mired in 12th place, Suarez was scored in 16th place and Elliott remained ahead of Wallace in ninth place.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader by more than a second over Hamlin. With Hamlin unable to narrow the deficit for a final time, Blaney was able to navigate his way around Pocono’s three tricky corners smoothly for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and cruised to his second checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.
With the victory, Blaney, who recorded his first Cup Series career victory while driving for Wood Brothers Racing in June 2017, notched his 12th career win in his 327th start in NASCAR’s premier series and his first since winning at Iowa Speedway four races ago. The victory also made Blaney the fifth competitor overall to achieve multiple victories through the first 21 scheduled events of the 2024 Cup Series season.
Blaney’s Pocono victory was also the fifth of the season for the Ford nameplate, the fifth overall for Ford’s Dark Horse stock car and the fourth of the 2024 season for Team Penske, with the Penske organization returning to Victory Lane at Pocono for the first time since the 2011 season.
Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I think just things are really kind of falling into place for us,” Blaney said on USA Network. “I feel like we’ve gotten to a great place on speed, the last two months especially. I feel like we honestly had a couple races slip away from us, which I thought we had a good shot at winning. So, it’s nice to just stick to the plan today. Kind of our plan was trying to have track position at the end because I knew our car was fast enough. Super proud of [crew chief] Jonathan [Hassler], the whole No. 12 boys. So cool to win here again. I won here seven years ago for my first Cup win, so awesome to be back. It’s just as special to win here today. You love tracks that have a special meaning to you. Places you get your first win and things like that, so this place means so much to me. So proud of the effort. Looking forward to, hopefully, continuing this momentum into next week at the boss’ [Roger Penske] track up at Indy.”
Denny Hamlin, who led 31 laps compared to Blaney’s 44 and was striving for his record-setting eighth Pocono victory, settled in second place as he rallied from finishing no higher than 12th over his last five races on the schedule while Alex Bowman, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at the Chicago Street Course, finished in a strong third place.
“Never lose a race, just would always run out of time, right? That’s just part of it,” Hamlin said. “Track position’s such a big thing. When [Blaney] jumped on that stage that we won, that put them in front of us and [it] certainly was gonna be hard to pass, and just not enough laps, really, of green [flag] there towards the end. Hats off to them. Great run. He kept great pace up there towards the front. It was really hard for me to even try to get close to reeling him in. Great job to this whole Mavis Tires & Brakes team. Shame we couldn’t get to Victory Lane, but another day.”
“[It’s] Hard to be satisfied when you restart on the front row, last restart and can’t get the job done,” Bowman said. “Proud of everybody on our Ally No. 48 [team]. We struggled with our car in traffic quite a bit and probably made most of our adjustments based on traffic and then, just got too free there at the end when we had some clear air. A good solid day for us. At least we’re pointed in the right direction. It’s been a good two weeks for us and going to a really historic racetrack that means a lot to me personally next week, so hopefully, we can get the job done there.”
Teammate William Byron muscled the red No. 24 Raptor High Heat Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a fourth-place result while Joey Logano ended up in fifth place.
Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were eight lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 23 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 21st event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by three points over teammate Kyle Larson, 15 over Tyler Reddick, 20 over Denny Hamlin, 57 over William Byron, 63 over Martin Truex Jr. and 76 over Ryan Blaney.
Results.
1. Ryan Blaney, 44 laps led
2. Denny Hamlin, 31 laps led, Stage 2 winner
3. Alex Bowman
4. William Byron
5. Joey Logano, three laps led
6. Tyler Reddick
7. Brad Keselowski, 20 laps led
8. Martin Truex Jr., 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner
9. Chase Elliott
10. Bubba Wallace
11. Chris Buescher, 19 laps led
12. Christopher Bell
13. Kyle Larson
14. Erik Jones
15. Chase Briscoe
16. Daniel Suarez
17. Carson Hocevar
18. Austin Cindric
19. Corey LaJoie
20. Josh Berry, eight laps led
21. AJ Allmendinger
22. Justin Haley
23. Austin Dillon
24. Michael McDowell, two laps down
25. Daniel Hemric- OUT, Suspension
26. Cody Ware – OUT, Overheating
27. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Engine, 21 laps led
28. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident
29. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident
30. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident
31. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident
32. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident
33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident
34. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident
35. JJ Yeley – OUT, Fuel pump
36. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident
37. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Boot Barn Chevrolet Team Earn 23rd-Place Finish at the “Tricky Triangle”
Finish: 23rd Start: 17th Points: 32nd
“It was a long day at Pocono Raceway for our Boot Barn Chevrolet team, but I’m proud of everyone at RCR and ECR for not giving up during challenging circumstances and working hard throughout the race to try and make adjustments. We had a fast Chevy, but we lost our brakes in Stage 1. It was frustrating because we were faster than the cars in front of us, but we couldn’t do much without brakes. We’re not exactly sure what was going on. We managed the best we could with what we had and somehow salvaged a 23rd-place finish. We’ll go back to the shop and evaluate.” -Austin Dillon
On-Track Incident Ends the Day Early for Kyle Busch and the zone Chevrolet Team at Pocono Raceway
Finish: 32nd Start: 24th Points: 18th
“It was a long day at Pocono Raceway for our zone Chevrolet team. Our RCR/ECR team did a good job of catching an oil leak before the race, but it was a bit stressful, and we had to start from the rear of the field and work our way up. We ended up getting hit from behind and it ended our day early. That’s just racing these days and it’s what happens. I just want to give thanks to all of our partners. Everybody at RCR, ECR, zone, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Lucas Oil, Chevrolet, 3Chi, BetMGM, FICO, Global Industrial, Lenovo, Morgan & Morgan, Rebel Bourbon, everyone that that supports us. We’re having the opportunity to go out there and have some fun and to continue to work on our program and build everything up. It’s just unfortunate circumstances. Thank you to Rowdy Nation and all the fans for their continued support. We’ll go back to work and get ready for Indianapolis.” -Kyle Busch
STEWART-HAAS RACING The Great American Getaway 400 Date: July 14, 2024 Event: The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VisitPA.com (Round 21 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle) Format: 160 laps, broken into three stages (30 laps/65 laps/65 laps)
Race Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford) Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr., of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
● Chase Briscoe (16th with 455 points, 248 out of first) ● Josh Berry (21st with 386 points, 317 out of first) ● Noah Gragson (24th with 354 points, 349 out of first) ● Ryan Preece (27th with 318 points, 385 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Briscoe earned his 10th top-15 of the season and his second top-15 in five career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono. ● Briscoe’s 15th-place result equaled his previous best finish at Pocono, originally earned in 2022. ● Berry earned his 11th top-20 of the season and it came in his first career NASCAR Cup Series start at Pocono. ● Berry led once for eight laps.
Race Notes:
● Ryan Blaney won The Great American Getaway 400 to score his 12th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his second at Pocono. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was 1.312 seconds. ● This was Ford’s 733rd all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its fourth of the season. ● This was Ford’s 25th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono. The manufacturer won its first race at Pocono on June 9, 1985 with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, who went on to sweep both races that season. ● There were eight caution periods for a total of 34 laps. ● Only 23 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap. ● Chase Elliott leaves Pocono as the new championship leader with a three-point advantage over second-place Kyle Larson.
Sound Bites:
“It was kind of a decent day. We weren’t great, really all weekend, from a speed standpoint – like I didn’t think we were going to be good enough to win. But I thought we made our car quite a bit better, truthfully, throughout the weekend, which is really encouraging. I thought we got the balance pretty good. We just didn’t really have the raw speed like some of the other guys. I thought we kind of maximized our day, for the most part. We were maybe a couple of positions better. Overall, it was not a bad day. Not a great day, not a bad day.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“It was just up and down. We had a couple of mistakes that kind of put us back, lost some track position, just got off sequence. It seemed like the car was strong at times, but overall it just needed to be a little bit better and a little more consistent to get a good finish. But we survived and had a decent day.” – Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“All I know is we had a really good car, started off to be a good day, then we got put back in the pack, and that’s what you end up getting.” – Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“I just got loose in turn one. We were battling and just got loose. Nobody got into me. I was all alone. I was just trying to make it until we got to the caution and could tighten it up a little bit, but it just took off on me. It’s definitely a bummer being out super early in the race, but thanks to Overstock.com and this whole 10 team. It hasn’t really been the weekend we hoped for through practice and qualifying, and now into the race being out so early. Thanks to all the fans for their support. We will go on to Indy. Indy will be fun next week.” – Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 21 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
For a second consecutive season, Team Penske swept the annual NTT IndyCar Series’ doubleheader weekend races at Iowa Speedway between July 13-14.
On this occasion, however, it was not this year’s two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden who swept both races compared to the 2023 season. It was his teammates Scott McLaughlin and Will Power who each fulfilled equated dreams of their own by winning at Iowa for the first time in their IndyCar careers.
The action commenced on Saturday evening, where McLaughlin, who started alongside pole-sitter Colton Herta for the first of two Iowa weekend events, received quick service from his No. 3 team to beat Herta off of pit road first amid a caution period on Lap 84. From there, McLaughlin, who fended off Herta during the following restart period on Lap 92, never relinquished the lead as he proceeded to survive through four caution periods and fend off Pato O’Ward in a 12-lap shootout to win for the first time on an oval circuit.
Overall, McLaughlin, who led the final 164 of 250-scheduled laps in his No. 3 XPEL/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet, notched his sixth career victory in the IndyCar circuit, his second of the 2024 season and first since winning at Barber Motorsports Park in April. The Iowa victory reignited McLaughlin’s quest to contend for this year’s IndyCar championship as he also continues to rally from the disqualification during the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg due to him and teammate Newgarden manipulating the ECU software that enabled them to use the push to pass on restarts.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“What got [the win] done tonight was the pit stops [by] the team,” McLaughlin, who also won the pole position for the 2024 Indianapolis 500, said on the frontstretch following Saturday’s race. “[The pit crew] got me out in front of [Colton] Herta there and then we showed our pace. That’s a big deal today. Man, I’ve been working for that for a couple of years. It takes a lot of hard work. I never was going to call myself an IndyCar driver until I won on an oval [circuit]. So, I’m going to call myself an IndyCar driver now. Hopefully, the floodgates open. We bloody need them to because we’re fairly behind in the championship, but we’ll see how we go.”
The following day, McLaughlin, who won the pole position for the second Iowa event, stormed out of the gate when the green flag waved and proceeded to lead the first 94 laps. Then after McLaughlin pitted from the lead on Lap 95, where a cycle of green flag pit stops had commenced, the race changed as the caution flew on Lap 101 due to Agustin Canapino coming to a stop in the backstretch. By then, Alex Palou, the reigning IndyCar champion, had just entered pit road and serviced his No. 10 DHL Dallara-Honda, where he was then able to blend back onto the track as the race leader. McLaughlin, meanwhile, was shuffled back to third place as teammate Will Power, who had also not yet pitted, moved his No. 12 Verizon/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet into second place.
Once the race restarted under green on Lap 113, Power, who spent a majority of the event’s remainder trailing Palou while managing to lead eight laps in the process and conserving fuel in the process, capitalized on his final green flag pit stop that lasted only 5.8 seconds with 45 laps remaining to blend back onto the track in front of Palou, who pitted a lap earlier but emerged with a pit time of 6.3 seconds.
From there, Power, who officially returned to the lead on Lap 209 after rookie Linus Lundqvist pitted, fended off a late charge from Palou towards the event’s conclusion on Lap 250 as he beat Palou to the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second for his first elusive victory at Iowa in the IndyCar circuit.
Power took the checkered flag just before a harrowing four-car wreck erupted on the backstretch that resulted with Sting Ray Robb going airborne, flipping twice and sliding on his roof after he hit Alexander Rossi, who had run out of fuel, as Ed Carpenter and Kyle Kirkwood were also involved.
With the victory, Power, a two-time IndyCar champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion, notched his 43rd career win in the IndyCar circuit, which moved him solely into fourth place on the all-time IndyCar wins list and left him nine victories shy of tying Mario Andretti for the third-most victories. It was also Power’s first victory since winning at Road America four races ago in June and his first on an oval circuit since he won at Pocono Raceway in August 2019.
Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo.
“Massive fuel [saving was the key],” Power said on the frontstretch following Sunday’s race. “Honestly, just sitting in the pack. I had a really good car, a really fast car, so I sat back and used that pace to save fuel and get a massive [fuel] number. I knew once all those [leaders] pulled in [to pit], I could go hard and then, we caught a yellow. That was sort of the thing we were hoping for, to get one of those yellows to put us to the front. Then we were able to get better fuel mileage behind Palou and go a lap longer than him and then jump in. I’ve been trying to win this race for years [and] years. So, [I’m] over the moon. The guys did a great job. I felt really bad from yesterday when I accidentally buttoned off from the pit speed limit and ruined our day. We were right in the game…We’re still pushing and getting it done.”
In a span of two races at Iowa, Power went from trailing the points lead by 48 points to decreasing his deficit to 43 and 35 as he retains second place in the championship standings behind points leader Alex Palou. Teammate McLaughlin, who finished in third place during the second Iowa event on Sunday, gained 40 points in two days as he now trails the points lead by 65 points while he is situated in fifth place in the standings.
Meanwhile, Palou, who is still pursuing his first oval victory in the IndyCar circuit, rallied from wrecking out in the first Iowa event to rack up his fifth podium result of the 2024 season and retain the points lead with six events remaining on this year’s schedule.
“It was a good weekend,” Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda, said. “Yesterday was a terrible day for us. Just made too many mistakes, but [I] rebounded today. Almost got the win. Solid P2. Looking forward to Toronto next week. It was, overall, a really good weekend.”
Pato O’Ward, who finished second and sixth, respectively, during the Iowa doubleheader features, is ranked in third place in the driver’s standings with a 52-point deficit despite achieving a resurgent victory a week ago at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Meanwhile, Scott Dixon, who finished in fourth place during both Iowa events, is scored in fourth place in the standings as he trails teammate Palou by 57 points.
Next on the 2024 NTT INDYCAR Series schedule is the series’ annual trip north of the border to the Streets of Toronto, Canada, for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 1 p.m. ET on Peacock.
No. 16 Cirkul Camaro ZL1AJ Allmendinger qualified 26th for The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway.
On the initial start, Allmendinger got loose running the top of three-wide and fell back to 30th. When the caution came out on lap 15, the No. 16 was running in 25th place. The team stayed out to restart in 13th on lap 18. Allmendinger fell back to 21st, reporting he had no grip. The No. 16 finished the first stage in 23rd.
During the stage break, Allmendinger came to pit road for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. The No. 16 restarted in 30th on lap 36. By lap 49, Allmendinger was running in 26th and reported his car was better, but he was a tick tight. Allmendinger came to pit road during the caution on lap 54. Crew chief, Travis Mack, called for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help Allmendinger with front turn. The No. 16 restarted in 24th and went on to finish the stage in 14th.
At the end of stage two, Allmendinger reported the No. 16 Cirkul Chevy was tight. The team came to pit road during the stage break for tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help with handling. Allmendinger restarted in 25th on lap 101. Allmendinger drove up to 21st by lap 116 when the caution came out. The No. 16 restarted in 28th after coming to pit road for tires and fuel. On the restart, Allmendinger was involved in a wreck, which brought out the next caution. The No. 16 Cirkul Chevy received minimal damage after spinning and came to pit road for scuffs and fuel. Allmendinger restarted at the tail end of the longest line after pitting too soon and was scored in 24th when the next caution came on the first lap green. Allmendinger restarted in 24th on lap 132 and took over 21st on the first lap green, before the caution came back out for fluid on the backstretch. Allmendinger restarted in 20th on lap 138 and went on to finish in 21st.
“Hard fought day. I thought we were decent throughout the middle of the race there, but we never could get on the right side of the strategy to get track position. Getting caught up in that wreck towards the end damaged the racecar little bit and caused us to lose some speed. We did what we could to salvage our day.” – AJ Allmendinger
DANIEL HEMRIC No. 31 Poppy Bank Camaro ZL1
Daniel Hemric qualified 27th for The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Hemric dropped back to 28th, before the first caution of the day came out on lap 15. He pitted alongside half the field for air-pressure adjustments in the No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevrolet. After restarting 31st on lap 17, some of the field elected to short pit the stage, while Hemric elected to stay out. He made it to 22nd, where he was scored at the end of the opening stage.
During the first stage break, Hemric pitted for tires, fuel and a right-side wedge adjustment in the No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevy. He started the second stage in 33rd. On lap 51, Hemric made contact with the wall, before a timely caution came out on lap 53. He pitted for tires, an adjustment, and damage assessment. The team concluded that the No. 31 sustained a bent toe link, and Hemric nursed the car to the end of the stage, finishing in 34th place.
Starting the final stage one lap down, Hemric missed the free-pass position by one spot when the caution came out on lap 116. He pitted for tires, fuel and an adjustment. A wreck on the restart put Hemric in the free-pass spot, allowing him back on the lead lap. He pitted for fuel. The field went green with 34 laps to go when another wreck on the restart brought the caution back out. Crew chief Trent Owens made to call for Hemric to pit for fresh tires, ensuring the team would have scuff tires at the end if needed. The field went back to green with 29 laps to go, as Hemric restarted 26th. The next caution came out just one lap later. Hemric restarted 23rd with 23 to go. With nine to go, Hemric reported an issue and pitted for tires. Once he blended back into the field, he radioed that something was broken on the No. 31 Chevy. Hemric drove it to the garage and was scored 25th.
“We battled a tight-handling No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevrolet. I brushed the wall, which bent the toe link. Unfortunately, the part eventually failed and ended our day a few laps early. I’m proud of the fight in our team to keep going until the very end.” – Daniel Hemric
About Kaulig Racing
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
DENNY HAMLIN FINISHES RUNNER-UP IN STRONG SHOWING AT POCONO Reddick, Truex Jr. and Wallace also earn top-10 finishes for Team Toyota
LONG POND, Pa. (July 14, 2024) – At one of his most successful tracks, where he holds the track record with seven career wins, Denny Hamlin drove his No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE to a second-place finish Sunday afternoon at Pocono Raceway in the Great American Getaway 400. Hamlin started the day in fourth position and was upfront throughout the 160-lap race around the “Tricky Triangle,” finishing second in Stage 1, winning Stage 2 and leading a total of 31 laps. Though there was a bevy of late-race cautions that jumbled up the field, Hamlin was unable to catch the leader by the checkered flag, finishing just 1.3 seconds back. Sunday’s result is Hamlin’s eighth top-five of the season.
Joining Hamlin inside the top-10 were Camry XSE teammates Tyler Reddick (6th), Martin Truex Jr. (8th) and Bubba Wallace (10th). Truex led 14 laps on the day and won Stage 1, with Hamlin and Reddick right behind him. Ty Gibbs started the day from pole position and led 21 laps in the early going but had his day end early with mechanical issues.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next Sunday, July 21, for the return of the Brickyard 400. Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Pocono Raceway Race 21 of 36 – 160 Laps, 400 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS 1st, Ryan Blaney* 2nd, DENNY HAMLIN 3rd, Alex Bowman* 4th, William Byron* 5th, Joey Logano 6th, TYLER REDDICK 8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 10th, BUBBA WALLACE 12th, CHRISTOPHER BELL 14th, ERIK JONES 27th, TY GIBBS 28th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Great day and fast car, but did it feel like you just ran out of laps there at the end?
“Yeah, always. You never lose one, just run out of laps or you run out of time, right? No, hats off to this whole Mavis Tires and Brakes team. Dave (Sorbaro), the CEO and 100 associates were here today, so we were proud to host them. Would’ve loved to give them a victory, but second is close and at least, it’s good to get back on track. We’ve had some slides over the last month-and-a-half.”
How much strategy goes into this race and what made the difference there?
“It was when the 12 (Ryan Blaney) jumped the stage and we stayed out there to win the stage. That was the moment he was able to jump us and from that point on, not enough laps to reel him back in.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Walk us through your race today.
“Yeah, most of the day was (pause.) Stage 1 and Stage 3 were decent for us. Stage 2 was a bit of a struggle. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have any good restarts in the middle portion there and gave up on some points. But all in all, it was a solid day and we closed the gap to the points lead. And obviously, Denny (Hamlin) closed in on us a little bit. Overall, solid day and great points day.”
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
How was your day today?
“It’s about points, so we didn’t capitalize on points, but the 1 (Ross Chastain) had a bad day, the 54 (Ty Gibbs) had a bad day. It was a nice rebound. Usually, it’s the opposite. We start really good and end up fading and giving up a lot track position. Here, we were able to call a good strategy and hang on. We just didn’t have the car. The 6 (Brad Keselowski) drove it down into (turn) one and I was going to race the heck out of him and I realized I was going to crash and he was going to keep going. It’s pretty eye-opening of how far we’re off. Going to have a good debrief tomorrow. All in all, I was trying to have fun the first stages, that’s what I said I was going to do. Was trying my butt off and here we are.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 49,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 34 million cars and trucks at our nine manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 10th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 28 electrified options.
Through its Driving Possibilities initiative, the Toyota USA Foundation has committed to creating innovative educational programs within, and in partnership with, historically underserved and diverse communities near the company’s U.S. operating sites.
Pair of Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs contend for season-best finishes at São Paulo
SÃO PAULO, Brazil (July 14, 2024) – TF Sport’s pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs showed their potential as the team’s FIA World Endurance Championship campaign continued to show improvements heading into the season’s stretch run… and a home race for the Corvette in the United States.
The No. 81 TF Sport trio of Tom Van Rompuy, Rui Andrade and Corvette factory driver Charlie Eastwood placed eighth in the 17-car LMGT3 field at the end of the Six Hours of São Paulo. It was their best result since the season’s second race at Imola. But the Brazil round also showed that podium finishes are likely on the horizon in the team’s first year with the Corvette platform.
Van Rompuy began eighth in LMGT3 but moved up two places in the opening 10 minutes. He was on his way into the top-five before he was hit by one of the GT3-class Porsches moments later and spun off the track. The No. 81 Corvette rejoined in 14th.
That put the No. 82 Z06 GT3.R of Hiroshi Koizumi as the lead Corvette, having moved to ninth from his 13th-place starting spot. Both he and Van Rompuy drove double-stints to start the race with both Corvettes in the top-10 by the time TF Sport made their first driver changes two hours in.
Andrade took over the No. 81 Corvette and was involved in a multi-car battle for fifth place with four cars racing within four seconds of each other. Meanwhile, Sebastien Baud took over the No. 82 Z06 GT3.R, which had to serve a drive-through penalty before the driver swap. Baud showed good pace and made the driver change factory driver Daniel Juncadella to go the rest of the way. Unfortunately on his way out onto the track, a mechanical problem sidelined the Corvette after 133 laps.
That left the No. 81 to battle the balance of the GT3 field. Andrade ran in the top five before handing over to Eastwood to drive nearly two-and-a-half hours to the end. Eastwood continued to contend for a top-five finish before an unfortunate penalty during a full-course caution period near the five-hour mark. He continued to show the potential of the Z06 GT3.R with the sixth-fastest lap of the 49 LMGT3 drivers in the race.
TF Sport’s next race in the FIA WEC is the Lone Star Le Mans from Circuit of The Americas in Austin from August 30-September 1.
TF SPORT POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED EIGHTH IN LMGT3: “It was a tough race for us. The positive is the pace was really strong. A couple of things didn’t go our way with Tom getting caught up in a racing incident, which really put us on the back foot trying not to go a lap down. A late drive-through really took us out of it. Ultimately we were eight seconds from P4, but that meant P8. It was a super-strong performance with the car. It was really positive but unfortunately a couple things didn’t go our way.”
RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED EIGHTH IN LMGT3: “There are some positives to take from today. We had some contact for Tom early. It was tough to manage my pace in my double-stint. Charlie looked incredibly quick at the end, so the car was definitely strong. If you take out the penalty and the contact, we could have been fighting for the podium. That’s the first time this year that we can say that, so that’s a big positive. The Corvette felt good all weekend and had no issues. We’ve taken some good steps forward. The pit stops were fine and we had no problems there. It’s tough to take when it doesn’t go your way but we have some positives to look at.”
TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED EIGHTH IN LMGT3: “It’s true that today we had a strong car. It was in good shape today. But we had the bad luck of one of the Porsches kicking us off the track and had a spin. So we had come all fighting from the back. We got it back to eighth after my double-stint. Then we had a couple of other things like a drive-through for a penalty under full-course yellow. The potential is there, and we showed it today with the Corvette. Everything just needs to fall together and we’ll get a good result. Hopefully in the next three races we can put it all together.”
DANIEL JUNCADELLA, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Unfortunately coming out of the pits, I had a technical issue and the car wasn’t able to keep running. We’ll have to analyze to see what happened. It’s a shame because the car was running really well. Seb was really fast in that stint. It wasn’t meant to be this time.”
SEBASTIEN BAUD, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We started well. It was a good qualifying result of the season for Hiroshi. For myself, I think it was a very good run. The car was good and fast. I liked it a lot. I tried to manage the tires to help with the degradation. The Corvette was good on this track. Unfortunately we had a mechanical problem that stopped us. I’m sorry for Dani because he didn’t get to drive today. We’ll try and come back stronger for COTA and the home race for Corvette. I hope we finish in the top-five. I really want a podium. The car is strong and the team is strong. We just need a chance to get up there, stay focused and keep pushing.”
About Chevrolet Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Post Race Quotes Great American Getaway 400 | Pocono Raceway Sunday, July 14, 2024
RYAN BLANEY TAMES THE TRICKY TRIANGLE
Ryan Blaney won his second race of the season and the 12th of his career today at Pocono Raceway.
The Cup victory is Blaney’s second at Pocono with the first coming with the Wood Brothers in 2017.
Ford has now won 6 of the last 10 races, including Joey Logano’s win in the All-Star Race.
Today’s win is Ford’s 733rd all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition
It also marks Team Penske’s 97th series win with Ford.
UNOFFICIAL FORD FINISHING RESULTS 1st – Ryan Blaney 5th – Joey Logano 7th – Brad Keselowski 11th – Chris Buescher 15th – Chase Briscoe 18th – Austin Cindric 20th – Josh Berry 22nd – Justin Haley 24th – Michael McDowell 26th – Cody Ware 30th – Ryan Preece 31st – Harrison Burton 34th – Todd Gilliland 37th – Noah Gragson
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Finished 1st) – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW
“I think things are just kind of falling into place for us. I feel like we have gotten to a great place on speed in the last two months, especially. I feel like we honestly had a couple races slip away from us which I thought we had a good shot at winning. It was nice to stick to the plan today and our plan was to have track position at the end. I knew our car was fast enough. I am super proud of the whole 12 team. The Wabash Ford Mustang was amazing. I appreciate Menards, Body Armour, the Wurth Group, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging and everyone that makes this possible. It is so cool to win here again. I won here seven years ago for my first Cup win. The crowd, you guys were amazing. Thank you for being here all weekend.”
WOULD NINE-YEAR-OLD RYAN BLANEY BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TWO CUP WINS HERE? “
No, at the time I wasn’t thinking about that. I was trying to figure out how I was going to have fun that weekend and how to win that night. It was super special seven years ago to win here with the Wood Brothers and it is a special win here today. You love tracks that have special meaning to you, like your first win, and this place means so much to me. My fiancee and a ton of her family are here. I can’t wait to see them. I am so proud of the effort. I am looking forward to hopefully continuing this momentum to next week at the bosses track up in Indy.”
YOU TURNED IT ON AT THE RIGHT TIME TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP LAST YEAR. AS WE SIT HERE MID-JULY, IS THIS THE BEST THE 12 TEAM HAS BEEN? “I think we are in a better spot at this time this year than where we were last year at this point. I feel like our speed is better. Our execution is great. We are doing everything as a 12 group the best that we can. We have had some other unforeseen circumstances that have hindered some finishes and possible wins. I am so proud of this Team Penske group. All the men and women at the race shop, they work their butts off to try to get better and deal with the drivers when they say we need to get a lot better. I appreciate them and Roush Yates Engines and all the work they do and continue to do. Go U.S.A.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Finished 5th)
“Overall, a top five, you have to be somewhat happy with that. We had speed there toward the end of the race and I think we could have run in the top two. I don’t know if we could have been better than Ryan or not, but it just took us too long to get the balance right. Once we got the track position and the balance close, I about wrecked it on the restart. Those spots there kind of ultimately cost us a chance to win it, but overall I am proud of the speed that we brought to a track like this. It makes me look forward to Indy a little bit more where we have some long straightaways again and it seemed like our car was decent on the straightaways this time.”
“I don’t know what happened. I haven’t seen a replay. All I know is we had a really good car for what started off as a completely bad day. It started to become a good day and then we got put in the back and that was that, so that is what you end up getting.”
TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 C.H. Reed Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Retired due to mechanical failure on lap 115)
WAS THE CAR GIVING YOU ANY INDICATION THERE WAS A PROBLEM?
“We fought with a little bit of brake shake through practice and a little at the beginning of the race. About five laps before that, my brake pedal started getting a little bit long. Then it just blew in the middle of the straightaway. I have never had that before. We have been really lucky. We have had some really well built Ford Mustangs coming out of Front Row Motorsports and haven’t had many mechanical issues the last three years. I thank those guys for giving us great cars. We will keep battling. Definitely not our best day to begin with and we have a lot of work to do but we will try to learn from it.”
NOAH GRAGSON, No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Retired early due to accident on lap 14)
“I just got loose in turn one. We were battling and just got loose. Nobody got into me. I was all alone. I was just trying to make it until we got to the caution and could tighten it up a little bit but it just took off on me. It is definitely a bummer being out super early in the race but thanks to Overstock.com, and this whole 10 team. It hasn’t really been the weekend we hoped for through practice and qualifying and now into the race being out so early. Thanks to all the fans for their support. We will go on to Indy. Indy will be fun next week.”
“I was all by myself, we started off the race super loose and then it just kept getting worse and worse. I was trying to limp it to the end of the stage but it just took off on me in turn one. It is definitely a bummer. Oh well.”
