Coming one day after Josef Newgarden won the Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske, Blaney won out in a race delayed one day by rain after beating William Byron’s Hendrick Chevrolet at a restart with 20 laps to go.
Blaney and Byron had traded the lead multiple times during the race, with Byron having the added advantage of the first pit stall which repeatedly gave him the lead off pit road.
The win is Blaney’s first in a points-paying race since his August 2021 victory at Daytona, although he did win last year’s non-points All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway.
“It’s so cool just to be a part of it, let alone win it,” Blaney said after celebrating with fans in the grandstands, much like Newgarden did on Sunday.
Asked what the result meant given his last victory was nearly two years ago, Blaney added: “You start to get to feel like you can’t win anymore when you don’t win in a while. It kind of gets hard.
“So, just super thankful to the No. 12 guys for believing in me. Thank you (fans) for sticking around. Really appreciate it.”
Byron, who had been awarded pole after the rain also caused Saturday’s qualifying session to be washed out, had edged Christopher Bell to claim the Stage 1 win in a photo finish.
The second stage was disrupted by light rain that caused a 31-minute delay in proceedings. An accident involving Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin exiting Turn 4 on lap 186, Elliott squeezed into the wall before bouncing into Hamlin and turning the Toyota into the wall, then ended the race early for both drivers.
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Liberty University Patriotic Chevrolet Camaro and Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, BodyArmor Cherry Lime Ford Mustang
Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
Chris Buescher had taken the Stage 2 spoils over Kevin Harvick, with Blaney fifth, but the Penske driver moved to the front and won Stage 3 after passing Byron then holding off Tyler Reddick.
Midway through Stage 4, top-five contenders Reddick and Harvick exiting Turn 4 to send the race back under caution for the 13th time and set up a late restart with 38 laps remaining. Zane Smith, making just his sixth career Cup start, stayed out and led the way followed by Byron and Kyle Larson.
An incident involving Larson, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano and Bell exiting Turn 2 then set up the final restart with 20 laps remaining. Blaney took command and never relinquished the lead to the flag.
Martin Truex Jr. finished third, Bubba Wallace rallied to finish fourth and his 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick rounded out the top five.
Completing the top-10 were Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Buescher, Austin Dillon and Smith.