Ryan Blaney and Team Penske have shown great speed with his No. 12 Ford Mustang this season, but they have often let races slip away at crucial moments. That changed on Sunday night.
Blaney pulled ahead in the final laps to earn his first Cup Series win of the year at Nashville Superspeedway. Afterward, he celebrated with a burnout in front of excited fans, especially after what he described as a tough year.
“I’m ready to go celebrate,” Blaney expressed.
The 2023 Cup champion had been performing well, achieving five top-five finishes in the first half of the season. He finally reached victory lane for his 14th career win and his first since Martinsville in November.
“I never lost hope, that’s for sure,” Blaney stated. “We’ve had great speed all year long. It just hasn’t been our best year luck-wise. But the [No.] 12 team is amazing. They keep pushing no matter what.”
He became the ninth different winner this season and joined four other drivers who have won at Nashville in recent races. This victory also marked Team Penske’s second consecutive win at Nashville’s 1.33-mile concrete track.
Starting from 15th place, Blaney quickly raced to the front and secured the second stage win, finishing ahead of Carson Hocevar by 2.83 seconds. Hocevar matched his best career finish from Atlanta in February, despite feeling that his No. 77 Chevrolet was hard to control during the race.
“Either I’m really dramatic or they’re really good with adjustments,” Hocevar said. “Probably a bit of both, but I’m proud of this team and this car. In a place where it’s really tough to pass, we moved from 26th to second.”
