Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney won Sunday’s Xfinity 500, earning a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Round of 4 alongside teammate Joey Logano. This weekend’s win marked Blaney’s third win of the season, 13th of his career, and 100th NASCAR Cup Series win with Ford for Team Penske.
“Congratulations to Roger, Tim, Jonathan, Ryan, and everyone at Team Penske on the race win at Martinsville and advancing to the Championship 4,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Ryan’s victory is a testament to his talent, dedication, and the team effort at Team Penske and Ford Performance. 100 wins at the NASCAR Cup level is a significant milestone and our team is proud to power 73 of these.”
“Yeah, a lot of momentum. It’s nice to have two Penske cars in. It’s nice to join the 22 and have a decent shot to bring Roger another title, a third title in a row, so these guys are the best at what they do and it’s been so much fun to get to run with them and share wins and championships. It’s super strong right now in our organization and hopefully it carries over,” commented Blaney.
Three Ford Performance drivers started Sunday’s race in the top 10: Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe in P4, Wood Brothers Racing’s Harrison Burton in P6, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece in P8. Stage 1 ended with five Ford Performance drivers in the top-10: Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece in P3 and P4, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano in P5 and P9, and RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski in P10.
Brad Keselowski won the second stage of the race, holding off Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. Keselowski took the lead from Blaney following a restart on Lap 203 and maintained it until the end of the stage on lap 261. After a caution on lap 398, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney pitted from the front of the pack for four tires, while Denny Hamlin took two tires and William Byron and Kyle Larson stayed out. With less than 100 laps remaining in the race, Larson and Byron restarted on the front row with Elliott, Blaney and Hamlin in the Top 10 on new tires. Blaney passed Chase Elliott for the lead on Lap 486 of 500 and pulled away to win by 2.593 seconds. Blaney joins fellow Round of 8 winners Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick along with William Byron in the race for the 2024 title.
A total of four Ford Performance drivers finished in the top-10: Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in P1, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric in P4, RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski in P9, and Team Penske’s Joey Logano in P10.
The Xfinity Series also raced at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday where Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer finished in P4, advancing to the Championship 4.
Both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series head to Phoenix Raceway this week for the final race of the 2024 season.
RYE PR