After a chaotic race weekend at Bristol, the NASCAR Cup Series headed to New Hampshire Motor Speedway to open the Round of 12 of the playoffs. Joey Logano started on pole with a blistering lap, nearly two tenths quicker than teammate Ryan Blaney in second. Penske and affiliate driver Josh Berry dominated qualifying, lining up 1-2-3. Austin Cindric had the pace to make it a Penske sweep of the top four, but a mistake in the final corner left him back in 22nd.
When the checkered flag fell, it was Ryan Blaney who came out on top. The 2022 champion earned his third win of the season, advancing to the Round of 8 in a race largely controlled by Team Penske.
Logano led the opening 52 laps while holding off a strong challenge from Berry. Blaney eventually took over the lead after great battle with Joey Logano.
Drama struck with less than 10 laps to go. Cody Ware was turned by Austin Dillon directly in front of the leaders, with Blaney narrowly avoiding contact. Cody Ware would remember that later.
Pit stops set up a one-lap sprint to end the stage. Blaney held off Logano to grab the Stage 1 win.
1st. Ryan Blaney
2nd. Joey Logano
3rd. William Byron
4th. Josh Berry
5th. Carson Hocevar
6th. Kyle Larson
7th. Shane van Gisbergen
8th. Alex Bowman
9th. Tyler Reddick
10th. Michael McDowell
Blaney maintained control on the restart, but the caution came out quickly after Shane van Gisbergen spun Berry off Turn 2.
Tensions rose further on lap 110 when Denny Hamlin, frustrated with being stuck behind teammate Ty Gibbs, tapped his left rear and spun him out, nearly collecting Christopher Bell in the process.
Under caution, most of the field pitted for four tires, but Chase Briscoe took two tires to grab the lead. A wild crash happened on a restart that saw drivers attempt to go five-wide through Turns 1 and 2. Several cars were collected, while playoff drivers narrowly escaped.
Logano also took two tires and made the strategy work, pulling away from Kyle Larson to win Stage 2.
1st. Joey Logano
2nd. Kyle Larson
3rd. William Byron
4th. Ryan Blaney
5th. Carson Hocevar
6th. Christopher Bell
7th. Chase Elliott
8th. Denny Hamlin
9th. Chase Briscoe
10th. Josh Berry
The closing stage shaped up as a Penske battle between Logano and Blaney. Logano led the most laps on the day with 147, but Blaney’s long-run pace proved stronger. He passed Logano and then short-pitted six laps earlier to cycle ahead, but a spin by Cody Ware reset strategies once more.
Blaney opted for two tires while Berry and Elliott stayed out. On the restart, Blaney quickly powered past them and never looked back. Berry mounted a late challenge, but Blaney held firm to score the win and lock himself into the Round of 8.
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