Ryan Blaney completes Penske sweep as wreck-fest ties NASCAR Phoenix Cup caution record

Ryan Blaney had to fight through a lot of adversity to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix Raceway, charging through the field after two loose wheels.

He held off a charging Christopher Bell with four fresh tires, who finished second after leading 176 of 312 laps. Kyle Larson finished third, Ty Gibbs fourth, and Denny Hamlin fifth.

Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell, and Erik Jones filled out the remainder of the top ten.

No, I mean, just perseverance. I mean, everybody on the 12 group persevered all day. We had a couple mistakes that we learned from, got better, had to come from the back a couple times.

Obviously the 20 was the best car. Jonathan made a great call to take two. We were able to get the lead. Hold them off.

“I don’t know how many more laps I could have held them off,” said Blaney, who had to chase down his #12 Ford as he began to roll away. “We were able to do that. Really proud of everybody at Team Penske. We swept the weekend, Newgarden winning yesterday, us winning today. Can’t wait to see Roger [Penske].

“It’s cool to win, especially after a day like that. Can’t say enough about the #12 guys for keeping their head down and doing what they do and Jonathan again for making a good call at the end.”

Watch: Desert dominator! Ryan Blaney holds off Bell at Phoenix for victory

Bell was disappointed to come up short after dominating most of the race, saying: “Ultimately. If we had more green flag laps, I think we could have made a run at him. I don’t know. You win some, you lose some. This one stings, but on the positive side I’m really proud of our entire team. The pit crew did amazing. Adam [Stevens, crew chief] brought an amazing car. Our mechanics, engineers did really good.

“It’s something to build on. I don’t know. It was a day that we needed. We got a lot of stage points, finished second. Yeah, just bummed whenever they get away like that.”

Shane van Gisbergen came back from two spins to finish eleventh, continuing his oval progression. There were a total of 12 cautions, which tied the record for the Cup Series at Phoenix.

Stage 1

Joey Logano, Team Penske, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports

Logano led the race from pole position, while Hocevar had to give up seventh on the grid and go to the rear after changing the alternator pre-race.

Zane Smith’s team was observed making unapproved adjustments on Saturday, and part of the penalty was that they had to serve a pass-through under green at the start of the race. He did that, and stayed on the lead lap for a bit before the Penske trio ran him down.

Joey Logano, Team Penske, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing

Blaney lapped up to 26th place, and Riley Herbst got the free pass during the stage break.

Stage 2

Bell won the race off pit road, beating the Penske drivers. Larson, who started on the front row before fading outside the top ten by the end of Stage 1, was caught speeding on pit road.

Bell led the way after the restart, but the first tire failures of the race happened about 30 laps into the stage. Kyle Busch hit the wall, and limped back to the pits. Around the same time, Van Gisbergen spun from inside the top 15 with a flat tire as well.

The entire field filed down pit road, but Blaney had to make a second stop to make sure the wheels were tight. He was third before that potential loose wheel. Wallace also restarted in the back after speeding on pit road.

Brad Keselowski got the free pass. On the restart, Suarez got loose under Preece and spin into the wall, collecting Elliott and sending him around. Berry also sustained slight nose damage, but all cars involved stayed on the lead lap. Smith finally recovered from the start penalty, and got the free pass during that yellow. Meanwhile, a gamble by Trackhouse to take the wave-around put Zilisch back on the lead lap.

On the restart, Logano snatched the lead back from Bell in an impressive outside pass. However, Bell had the advantage on the long run and took it back as the stage progressed.

Briscoe passed Reddick for third, but moments later, he lost a tire and slid hard into the outside wall, triggering a caution. He was the first driver to go behind the wall during Sunday’s race, and did not return. Jones was granted the free pass.

Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ryan Blaney, Team Penske

Logano won the race off pit road, while the wheel issues continued for Blaney. He had raced his way back to the top ten, but needed to stop in his teammate’s stall to get another wheel tightened.

The next tire issue was for Gragson while Bell reclaimed control of the race. He slammed the wall with a brake failure, which allowed SVG to get the free pass. Byron, Zilisch, and McDowell all cut tires under yellow, and had to go down a closed pit road. Custer also hit some of the debris and had to be pushed behind the wall.

Hamlin was among a small group of drivers who pitted for just two tires, while RFK Racing teammates Preece and Keselowski chose to stay out. They did not stay there for long as Hamlin took the lead and they fell back through the field.

Bell passed Hamlin, and went on to win the stage. He was followed by Hamlin, Logano, Buescher, Wallace, Cindric, Hocevar, Reddick, Larson, and Gilliland.

Busch got the free pass, which meant all 34 cars still running were back on the lead lap. By this time, Noah Gragson, Cole Custer, and Chase Briscoe were all out of the race.

Stage 3

During the final stage, Bell maintained control of the race, but cameras soon showed Connor Zilisch getting sideways and made contact with Preece, spinning the #60 and causing a yellow flag. A replay then showed what happened just before: Ricky Stenhouse Jr tried to go up the middle, turning Zilisch down into Preece.

With sets of tires close to running out, Berry and Elliott stayed out while Bell led a group of drivers who chose to take two tires.