HAMPTON, Ga. — Ryan Blaney led a dominating 171 of 263 laps to claim the trophy in overtime in Sunday-night-turned-Monday-morning‘s Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway.
As impressive as the big number of laps led is the night-long extra effort Blaney turned in to mark his second win of the season and first since Phoenix in March. The 32-year-old North Carolinian made the winning pass on the last lap in what had been a dramatic lap-by-lap night-long battle up front, showcasing — and necessitating — some of the 2023 series champion‘s best work.
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His laps-led total on the 1.5-mile Atlanta high-banks is the most for a race winner at a drafting track since Richard Petty led 184 of 200 laps in his 1964 Daytona 500 victory.
Blaney‘s No. 12 Team Penske Ford got the race-winning nudge forward on the last lap of overtime by Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Christopher Bell, whose No. 20 Toyota ultimately crossed the finish line three-wide alongside 23XI Racing‘s Bubba Wallace and Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar. Hocevar was leading when the field took the white flag.
Wallace was later penalized for being out of bounds, dropping below the track‘s yellow line at one point as he corrected his car on that final overtime restart, battling Hocevar for position. The adjusted top-five with the penalty then placed Bell second to Blaney by 0.068 seconds — the JGR Toyota driver‘s fifth top-five in the last eight races. Hocevar was scored third, followed by the Toyotas of JGR‘s Ty Gibbs and Legacy Motor Club‘s Erik Jones.
“Pretty wild,‘‘ said a smiling Blaney, who started on the pole and swept the stages.
“Bubba gave me really good shoves on the restart. We got hooked up really good and then Bubba and I got a huge run down the front straightaway and I was able to get to the outside of Carson. Wasn‘t able to clear him [then]. And then Bubba went three-wide bottom down the back, which lined up for a really cool finish at the line.
“I really have to shout out Christopher Bell being right on my bumper through [Turns] 3 and 4 and a big push. He was a big reason why we won the race, so I appreciate that, Christopher.”
It was an adventurous victory for Blaney, who faced challenges every lap and was forced to re-establish his position out front even after a more than three-hour red flag for weather at Lap 109 and the changing weather conditions.
Blaney has now earned Ford Motor Company‘s last six NASCAR Cup Series wins, and it marks a significant 750th victory for Ford Motor Company.
Despite the impressive race statistics, it took hard work and unrelenting spirit to pull off this second victory of the season. Hocevar ran among the frontrunners for much of the night and was a serious threat to win. The 23-year-old driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet earned his first career win in April at the series‘ previous drafting track stop — Talladega Superspeedway. And he came into the race full of confidence and vigor.
Hocevar was so optimistic about his chances that he joked with his team on the radio during the final restarts, even singing into the radio just before the overtime green flag flew. He said he was part disappointed and part encouraged with the third-place finish.
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“Is there a song for loser, we didn‘t win,‘‘ Hocevar joked after the race. “I don‘t know; I‘m super happy with our day. I‘m sitting there hanging around, looking at the fans, sitting about for the first part of Stage 3. Then, all of a sudden with about 12 laps [remaining], we were up front and in contention to win
“It‘s fun. Zero nerves up front,‘‘ he added with a grin.
It was also an impressive night for Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen, the series‘ road course ace, finishing sixth for his third top-10 showing on an oval this season.
Richard Childress Racing‘s Austin Dillon was seventh, followed by the season‘s five-time race winner Tyler Reddick, who won at EchoPark in February. Blaney‘s Penske teammate, three-time series champ Joey Logano, was ninth, scoring his sixth top-10 of the season. RFK Racing‘s Chris Buescher was 10th.
The night had a big effect on the $1 million-to-win In-Season Challenge, with Bell‘s runner-up showing bettering his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin‘s 12th-place showing to advance to next week‘s semifinal round. He‘ll join Hendrick Motorsports‘ Chase Elliott, who finished 13th, out-dueling JGR‘s Chase Briscoe, who finished 36th after being collected in a crash.
Blaney‘s win advances him past Hendrick‘s William Byron, who finished 16th. And Front Row Motorsports‘ Todd Gilliland advances with a 19th-place effort, bettering Hendrick‘s Alex Bowman, who finished 22nd.
The night also had major implications in the championship standings, now with only six races remaining to set the 16-driver field that will compete in the Chase.
Hamlin retains the championship points lead, however, Reddick cut the margin nearly in half at EchoPark with strong stage showings in addition to his top-10. He now trails his 23XI Racing team co-owner by 24 points. Blaney‘s victory also moved him into Regular Season Championship talk, cutting what was once a 100-plus-point deficit to now only 65 points.
Jones’ finish kept him ranked 16th, but Logano‘s effort moved him up a position in the standings, and he now trails Jones by only eight points. RFK‘s Ryan Preece is ranked 18th, 26 points off Jones.
The NASCAR Cup Series next makes a nostalgic return to North Wilkesboro Speedway for Sunday‘s Window World 450 (7 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bell won the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro in 2025. The last regular-season race at the historic track was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon in 1996.
Stage 2 recap
Ryan Blaney won Stage 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway after a delay of more than three hours due to inclement weather.
Reddick finished second, followed by Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and Daniel Suárez. Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell, Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin and Shane van Gisbergen.
MORE: Full Stage 2 results
The first lead change of the evening came during the Stage 1 caution, as Tyler Reddick — the EchoPark springtime winner — exited pit road first. But that didn‘t last long. Kyle Larson and Blaney each took turns leading early in the second frame, before Carson Hocevar rocketed past both at Lap 83 for his first lead of the night.
Hocevar led the next 12 circuits as intensity picked up, with inclement weather potentially threatening. Blaney returned to the top spot at Lap 95 with Bubba Wallace right behind him, and led until weather hit the Atlanta-area facility at Lap 108.
The race was paused until 11:37 p.m. ET, and the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart returned to green-flag conditions at 12:01 a.m. ET after a pit cycle.
But the long delay didn‘t deter the No. 12 Team Penske driver. Aggression level clearly picked up after the stoppage, but Blaney successfully defended every threat to pace every lap during the green-flag stint.
Coming to the green-and-white checkered flag, Wallace went spinning after contact from Ty Gibbs exiting Turn 4. Wallace was battling for fourth and challenged Blaney throughout the segment for the race lead.
Stage 1 recap
Ryan Blaney earned a wire-to-wire Stage 1 victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway. The pole starter led all 60 laps in the opening frame, fending off Tyler Reddick — who started outside the top 30 — in the closing circuits.
Reddick held on for second, followed by Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric. Carson Hocevar, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top 10 and early points earners.
MORE: Full Stage 1 results
In the opening moments, Brad Keselowski got loose in Turns 3 and 4 and brushed the wall, plummeting back through the field and eventually falling a lap down.
After just 10 laps, Team Penske ran 1-2-3 with Blaney pacing Logano and Cindric, who started eighth. They, along with Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson, broke ahead from the rest of the field. By Lap 26, Spire Motorsports’ Hocevar climbed from a 14th-place starting position up to third, briefly breaking up the blue oval brigade for the first time.
But as the opening stage reached the halfway mark, the field retightened as drivers gained feel for their cars. There was no practice for Sunday’s race, so the opening stint of the 260-lapper was the first time all weekend that teams worked together in the Peach State draft.
Stage 1 was completed without a caution.
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Note: Inspection was completed in the Cup Series garage with no issues, confirming Blaney as the EchoPark winner.
Contributing: Staff reports