Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney topped fellow Ford drivers Josh Berry and Joey Logano to claim the Mobil 1 301 on Sunday, opening the Round of 12 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.
Blaney’s Penske teammate Logano, who led a race-best 147 laps, fell back on the final cycle of pit work, allowing Blaney to move to second behind Berry, the Woods Brother driver who pilots a Ford affiliated with the Team Penske cars.
Blaney grabbed the lead from Berry, who qualified for the playoffs by winning at Las Vegas in March but was eliminated after the Round of 16, inside the final 40 laps.
The 31-year-old Blaney then cruised to the checkers by 0.937 seconds over Berry. The 2023 series champ’s 16th career victory advanced him to the Round of 8.
Following Berry’s runner-up showing were William Byron, Logano and Chase Elliott.
Christopher Bell, last week’s winner at Bristol and victorious in two of the past three NHMS races, came in sixth in the eight-caution event.
Holding the pole position for the first time at his home track, Connecticut native Logano paced the front row with Blaney. The two Fords, along with Berry in the famous No. 21 Wood Brothers blue oval, raced 1-2-3 until Blaney roared by Logano’s No. 22 on Lap 53.
Blaney had to get on the brakes to avoid the spinning Ford of Cody Ware, but then he won a short shootout to finish off 70-lap Stage 1 for his eighth segment victory. Logano, Byron, Berry and Carson Hocevar followed him to the checkers.
The day’s most bizarre moment occurred on Lap 110 when playoff contender Denny Hamlin turned his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs into the wall, sparking heated in-car audio from the Toyota drivers.
Racing as low off Turn 1 as possible, RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski clipped the inside wall off pit road and spun Shane van Gisbergen, triggering an accident that involved fellow Trackhouse Racing stablemate Daniel Suarez and Kyle Busch.
Logano captured Stage 2 with Kyle Larson, Byron, Blaney and Hocevar rounding out the top-five racers.
After final pit stops, Berry’s red-and-white Ford held the top spot, but Blaney worked his way past it with 39 laps to go and roared to the win.
