Ryan Blaney locked Group Penske into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Sequence playoffs, main a race-high 140 of 300 laps and cruising to a victory at Nashville Superspeedway.
Along with his first win of the season, Blaney joined Joey Logano (Texas) and Austin Cindric (Talladega) as winners who’ve earned berths within the 10-race championship for NASCAR’s premier sequence.
Carson Hocevar completed second, adopted by Denny Hamlin, Logano and William Byron. Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell rounded out the highest 10.
The 300-lap race ended with a 102-lap run beneath inexperienced after seven warning flags within the first 198 laps. Blaney, who gained Stage 2, led 111 of the ultimate 132 laps in his No. 12 Ford.
Blaney turns into the ninth winner to seize a spot within the 16-driver subject for the playoffs. He rebounded from a thirty eighth within the Coca-Cola 600, the latest of 4 finishes of twenty eighth or worse this 12 months.
“I by no means gave up hope, that’s for certain,” Blaney instructed Prime’s Marty Snider. “We’ve had nice pace all 12 months, simply hasn’t actually been one of the best 12 months for us so far as luck. The 12 boys are superior. They keep it up irrespective of the way it goes, and it was nice to complete one out now.”
Quotes from the longest concrete monitor on the NASCAR Cup Sequence schedule.
A flurry of Stage 2 warning laps was triggered by Hocevar punting Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with a left-rear faucet into the Flip 4 wall on Lap 106.
Stenhouse, who’s hovering across the playoff cutline, was eradicated in final place after finishing 110 laps.
“Lap or two earlier than, he tried to dive in there from about 10 automotive lengths again,” Stenhouse instructed Prime’s Marty Snider. “That point, I simply opened my entry a little bit bit, he overcharged the nook and simply drilled us within the rear bumper. I’d say it’s not out of the norm for him, however I positively wasn’t anticipating that at that time within the race.
“Bummer for us. Our Camaro wasn’t nice, however we had been making modifications, and I felt like that restart, I used to be a little bit higher than the run earlier than. We had been simply burning our proper rear tire off all through the run. Bummed that our day ended like that. I’ll positively have one thing to do about it at one level.”
On the Lap 112 restart, Noah Gragson and Alex Bowman sustained heavy harm in an incident that additionally collected Kyle Larson.
The race went inexperienced once more on Lap 119, however the yellow flag instantly flew for Bell, who misplaced management of his No. 20 Toyota after colliding a number of instances with Jones’ No. 43 Toyota.
On the Lap 124 restart, Larson (unfastened wheel) and Tyler Reddick (flat tire) each made unscheduled pit stops, after which the warning flew once more as Corey Heim smacked the wall in Flip 4 after misjudging his exit and colliding with Brad Keselowski.
WILL BE UPDATED
Stage 1 winner: Hamlin
Stage 2 winner: Blaney
Subsequent up: Sunday, June 8, 2 p.m. ET at Michigan Worldwide Speedway on Prime.
