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Gulf Today
a day ago
- Automotive
- Gulf Today
Ryan Blaney races to first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the year at Nashville
Ryan Blaney and Team Penske have been fast with his No. 12 Ford Mustang this year only to have races slip away when it mattered most. Blaney ran away down the stretch for his first Cup Series victory of the year Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway, then he celebrated with a burnout in front of the roaring fans after what he called a rough year. "I'm ready to go celebrate,' Blaney said. The 2023 Cup champ had been racing well with five top-five finishes over the first half of this season. He finally got to victory lane for his 14th career victory and first since Martinsville in November after leading a race-high 139 laps. "I never gave up hope that's for sure," Blaney said. "We've had great speed all year. It just hasn't really been the best year for us as far as good fortune. But (No.) 12 boys are awesome. They stick with it no matter how it goes.' He became the ninth different winner this season and the fifth driver to win in as many races at Nashville. He also gave Team Penske a second straight Cup win at Nashville's 1.33-mile concrete track. Blaney, who started 15th, quickly drove his way to the front as he won the second stage. He easily held off Carson Hocevar by 2.83 seconds. Hocevar matched his career-best finish at Atlanta in February after complaining during the race that his No. 77 Chevrolet was undriveable. "Either I'm really dramatic or they're really good on adjustments," Hocevar said. "Probably a little bit of both, but, yeah, proud of this group proud of this car. A place that is really, really difficult to pass, we're able to go 26th to second.' Ryan Blaney celebrates with a burnout after winning the race. AFP Denny Hamlin finished third in his 700th career Cup Series race, matching the third-place finish by Jeff Gordon at Darlington in 2013 for the best finish in a driver's 700th race. Joey Logano, who won here last year, was fourth and William Byron fifth. Hamlin was hoping for one more caution that never came after seven cautions for 35 laps. "Just couldn't run with the 12 (Blaney) there in the super long run," Hamlin said. "After 40 laps, I could maintain with him. But then after that, he just pulled away and stretched it on us.' There was a sprint to the finish under green forcing teams and drivers to pick and choose went to pit. Blaney had led 107 laps when he went to the pits under green flag on lap 248. Hamlin took the lead before going to pit road on lap 256. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler said they decided on Blaney's fifth and final pit stop trying to make sure he could get back out into the cleanest air possible. "It was really nice just to finish off a race,' Hassler said. Brad Keselowski had the lead when he went to the pits on lap 269. Blaney took the lead for the final 31 laps. Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, William Byron, driver of the #24 Raptor High Heat Chevrolet, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. AFP Hamlin raced Sunday night hoping to take advantage of his starting spot spot beside pole-sitter Chase Briscoe. Whether Hamlin would chase his third win this season had been in question with his third child, a boy, due the same day. Hamlin practiced and qualified well, so he drove his No. 11 Toyota even as Joe Gibbs Racing had Ryan Truex on standby in case Hamlin got the call that his fiancee was in labor. Hamlin won the first stage and survived the final stretch without water or fresh air. Tyler Reddick beat his boss Hamlin, a co-owner of his 23XI Racing team, to new parent status, which Reddick announced on social media earlier Sunday. His family welcomed their second son at 2:20 am on May 25, then Reddick followed up hours later by finishing 26th in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn't finish his first race this year. He was the first out when Hocevar tapped his No. 47 Chevrolet, spinning Stenhouse into the wall between Turns 3 and 4 for the second caution of the race on lap 106. AJ Allmendinger started at the back of the field and served a stop-and-go penalty after the green flag for an unapproved adjustment to the splitter during Saturday's practice. His No. 16 Chevrolet was sent back to the garage and then the scanning station before practice and qualifying. The No. 66 Ford of Chad Finchum failed inspection twice leading to engineer Austin Webb's ejection. The Garage 66 team also lost pit stall selection. NASCAR heads to Michigan International Speedway for the Cup Series on June 8. Associated Press
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR takeaways: Is Ryan Blaney or Carson Hocevar the story at Nashville?
A former NASCAR Cup Series champion led a race-high 139 laps and won for the first time in 2025 Sunday. And yet, Ryan Blaney wasn't the talk of the Cracker Barrel 400. That title belonged to Carson Hocevar, who ended Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s night with a hard-racin' bump in Stage 2 and was making hand signals out his window in Stage 3, all while moving from 26th to a runner-up finish at Nashville Superspeedway. Advertisement More on him in a moment. But first, Blaney. NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney celebrates winning the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Sunday, June 1, 2025. He claimed a Stage 2 victory after qualifying 15th. 'It's nice that it's finally happening,' Blaney said. 'I'm ready to go celebrate.' Behind him and Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and William Byron recorded top-five finishes. Here are three takeaways: 1. Ryan Blaney returns to Victory Lane LEBANON, TENNESSEE - JUNE 01: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 01, 2025 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by) Blaney had run well recently. Before a 38th-place finish at Charlotte last week, he tallied four top-fives in five races, with back-to-back thirds at Texas and Kansas. But he had not taken the checkers since the penultimate week of the 2024 playoffs at Martinsville. 'I never gave up hope, that's for sure.' Blaney said. 'We've had great speed all year. It just really hasn't been the best year for us, as far as good fortune. But the (Team Penske No. 12) boys are awesome. They stick with it no matter how it goes. It was great to finish one out tonight.' Advertisement The win was his first at Nashville and the 14th of his career. Blaney closed it out by a margin of 2.83 seconds. Now, he's headed to the playoffs as the ninth driver to clinch a spot so far this season. Overall, the race featured 18 lead changes and seven cautions. The final 102 laps went off consecutively without a yellow flag. 2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. warns Carson Hocevar LEBANON, TENNESSEE - MAY 31: Carson Hocevar, driver of the #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on May 31, 2025 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by) Uh oh, Carson. Stenhouse sent the young driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports car a warning after Hocevar knocked Stenhouse to the garage with a rear bump while battling for 17th on Lap 106. Stenhouse slid into the wall rear-first. Advertisement It resulted in his first DNF of 2025. 'I'd say it's not out of the norm for him, but I definitely wasn't expecting that at that point in the race,' Stenhouse said. 'Bummer for us ... Definitely will have something to do about it at one point.' Did he plan to talk to Hocevar? 'Oh, I will,' Stenhouse said. Approach him after the race? 'No, that costs too much money,' Stenhouse said. When asked about the incident afterward, Hocevar had not yet watched the replay but didn't view it as nefarious. 'I feel like that was just a common move with how big of a run I had, but I didn't see it,' Hocevar said. 'I'm sure he'll want to talk about it. I'll talk about it. We'll look at the replay.' Advertisement Meanwhile, he tied his career-best finish of second. He previously reached that spot at Atlanta in February. Before Sunday, Hocevar had cracked the top 10 only twice this season. 'Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction,' he said. 3. Up next: NASCAR motors to Motor City LEBANON, TENNESSEE - JUNE 01: Riley Herbst, driver of the #35 Monster Energy Toyota, Ty Dillon, driver of the #10 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet, and Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 Pinnacle Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 01, 2025 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by) Before heading south of the border on Father's Day weekend, NASCAR heads north. Way north, by NASCAR standards, to the Detroit area for a tripleheader weekend. It begins with an ARCA race Friday, with the Truck Series in a Saturday starring role before Sunday's Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan international Speedway. It'll be yet another weekend off for the Xfinity Series, which had a two-week break in May. Advertisement Tyler Reddick won last year's race at Michigan, which was host to two Cup Series races a year until 2021. — Ken Willis contributed to this report This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR takeaways: Ryan Blaney wins Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Winners, losers from NASCAR Cup race at Nashville won by Ryan Blaney
LEBANON, Tenn. — A look at the winners and losers from Sunday night's Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway. WINNERS Ryan Blaney — He led 139 laps, including the final 32, to score his first Cup victory of the season. It marks the eighth time in the last nine seasons that he's scored at least one Cup victory. 'It was nice to finally get in Victory Lane tonight after a rocky start to the year,' said Blaney, who has failed to finish five races this year. Nate Ryan, Team Penske — Becomes the first organization to have all of its drivers win a race this season. Team Penske has won three of the last five points races — Austin Cindric at Talladega, Joey Logano at Texas and Ryan Blaney at Nashville. Also, the Wood Brothers are aligned with Team Penske and won at Las Vegas with Josh Berry earlier this season. Carson Hocevar — Tied his career-best finish by placing second at Nashville. Dustin Long, Denny Hamlin — Placed third at Nashville. It's his fifth top-five finish in the last nine races. Erik Jones — His seventh-place result is his second top-10 in the last four races. Not a bad way to head to Michigan, his home track, this weekend. LOSERS Justin Haley — His 32nd-place finish marks the third consecutive race he's finished 30th or worse. Ty Gibbs — He finished 31st at Nashville. That marks the fourth race in a row he's placed 23rd or worse. AJ Allmendinger — NASCAR caught the team making an adjustment to the car after it had gone through inspection Saturday. He had to perform a stop-and-go penalty after taking the green flag in Sunday's race. He lost a lap. With the first stage run without a caution, he got stuck a lap behind and was mired deep in the pack. He eventually got his lap back and finished 20th. The day could have been better had they not had the penalty.
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Ryan Blaney triumphs in Nashville to claim first win of 2025
Ryan Blaney gained track position early in Sunday night's race near Music City and earned a playoff spot at the end of it. The Team Penske driver opened the second half of the NASCAR Cup Series' regular season schedule with a win over Carson Hocevar and the field at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennesse. Blaney took the lead late in Stage 2 of the 300-lap event - NASCAR's 14th points-paying race of the season - and stayed in front for the remainder to notch his first victory of 2025 and first at the Tennessee track, topping Hocevar by 2.83 seconds. The 2023 Cup champion, who won for the 14th time in his career, is the fifth different winner in Nashville's five Cup races. Blaney's crew chief Jonathan Hassler called for a two-tyre change on the first stop after Stage 1's conclusion, allowing the No 12 Ford to move up in the grid. "I thought it was a good call. We drove up to seventh there in the first stage," said Blaney, who led a race-high 139 laps. "The car was good (and) that set us up for the rest of the race. Great job by him as always. "I never gave up hope, that's for sure. We've had great speed all year, but it hasn't been the best year for us with good fortune." Denny Hamlin, making his 700th career start - becoming the 22nd driver in NASCAR history to do so - led 79 laps and finished third. Defending race winner Joey Logano and William Byron rounded out the top five. In his 450th career start, Ricky Stenhouse Jnr was tagged by Hocevar on lap 106 and hit the turn 4 wall. Stenhouse, who finished last (39th), was bidding to join Dale Earnhardt Jnr, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch in winning in outing No 450. "I think it's definitely over-aggressive. I think that's Carson," said Stenhouse. "Maybe I should've hung a right and let him go. (He kept) dive-bombing me. You can't just give up spots to give up spots." While polesitter Chase Briscoe pulled away from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin early, a problem arose for Kyle Larson as his No 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet got loose, went up the 1.33-mile concrete oval and lost speed. The 2021 champ then slipped to the rear of the field and tried to regroup. After pit service, Briscoe, who led 51 laps in Stage 1, cycled back around as the leader, but Hamlin moved by the JGR No 19 and set his sights on Larson, who was in position to be lapped as the 85-lap segment wound down. Hamlin won Stage 1 with Tyler Reddick and Briscoe close behind. Larson managed to stay on the lead lap and make up the distance lost on the circuit. After the Hocevar-Stenhouse incident, Alex Bowman's No 48 got loose and took out Noah Gragson's No 4 Ford for the fourth caution on lap 114. Then Christopher Bell spun off the nose of Erik Jones' No 43 for another yellow on the ensuing restart. Hamlin showed the way in the 399-mile race's middle portion, but Blaney's No 12 and Byron's No 24 came to life as Stage 2 neared its end. Blaney's Ford built a 2 1/2-second lead and easily won the stage over Byron and Hamlin.
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Carson Hocevar moves a step closer to taming NASCAR Cup Series with Nashville result
LEBANON, Tenn. — Carson Hocevar apologized. No, not for the contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., a matter Hocevar said he needed to review. And Hocevar didn't apologize for being a bull in a china shop, at least that's how some competitors see him. After matching his career-best finish of second Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway, Hocevar apologized — for cutting an interview short. 'I'm about to throw up,' he said. The 22-year-old turned and walked over to the infield grass and did just that. He felt better afterward and resumed talking to reporters. Nothing is ordinary with Hocevar, who reminds one of a bucking bronco yet to be quite fully tamed, full of energy and able to force others to react to what they do. Even Nashville winner Ryan Blaney acknowledged what Hocevar has done with Spire Motorsports this season. 'Spire has been really, really fast this year,' Blaney said after his first victory of the season. 'Mainly the 77 (Hocevar). He's been really, really good and had a great shot to win that race last week and ran really good tonight.' Nate Ryan, Hocevar seems to be closing on his first career Cup victory, provided he can harness his talent and his team can execute a clean race. It all almost came together Sunday. Then again, that victory might have come the previous week in the Coca-Cola 600 had his engine not blown while he was running second with less than 100 laps to go. 'We're right on the doorstep,' Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson told NBC Sports after Sunday's race at Nashville Superspeedway. 'That was different from (the Coca-Cola 600) where we had a bunch of speed early and often. This was more of a workmanlike, mature finish for the group. I'm proud of (Hocevar). 'We still had our drama there. I wish he would have just cut Ricky a break more than anything. I don't know if that was entirely on Carson, but I do expect him to cut a guy a break like that. That's all part of the building block. I'd rather be having that discussion with him after a second-place run than 32nd.' Hocevar has noted that he's continuing to learn but also ready to win, saying this weekend: 'I feel like I know how to win. It's just being able to be detailed enough to have it work out.' And avoiding issues with competitors. After he finished runner-up at Atlanta in February, the second-year Cup driver had multiple drivers upset with him. Blaney and Ross Chastain talked to him after the race about his driving. While acknowledging he had room to grow on the track, he remained confident in what he was doing. 'We're here to win races and not be a boy band and love each other and play on the playground together,' Hocevar said at the time. Dustin Long, Hocevar is the third young driver that Luke Lambert has been paired with throughout his 13-year Cup career as a crew chief and those experiences are helping him connect with Hocevar more. 'I think what I've learned in working with different rookies and now with Carson is so much about managing expectations and building the mental toughness to be a Cup driver, which you really can't develop without the experience of driving in this series. … The mental toughness required to manage these Cup races is really where the difference is made.' So how does Lambert help Hocevar with that? 'It's a 24/7 focus on discipline,' Lamber said. 'Our focus is to develop the right amount of discipline for him without killing his creativity. That requires conversations about everything that happens on the track but also conversations that happen about everything in your life in between races.' Lambert calls Hocevar 'one of the most creative race car drivers I've ever been around in that he finds ways to do things with the car that other guys wouldn't have thought of or he may not have seen another guy do before.' Hocevar's finish moved him to within four points of Kyle Busch, who holds the final playoff spot with 12 races left in the regular season. After starting 26th, it made the accomplishment even more meaningful. 'Super proud of our group and what we're doing right now,' Lambert said on the team's radio after the race. 'We are proving that we are heading in the right direction. We're going to keep it up. The fact that we rallied and got this finish tonight is just another example of we're heading in the right direction. 'Good magic for next week. Let's have some fun.'
