Wood Brothers Racing’s Ryan Blaney drove to his first-ever NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series win in Sunday’s Axalta Pocono 400 after making a late-race pass on Kyle Busch.
Blaney went around the outside of Busch following a Lap 151 restart to take the lead. Busch, who started on pole, quickly faded as Kevin Harvick then came barrelling down on him and relegated him to third. Harvick then began to challenge Blaney for the lead, with the 23-year old expertly keeping the 2014 champion at bay to take the win.
“I had a big run on him off of (Turn) 3, and he (Busch) did a good job blocking, and we were able to get under him, but then I had to hold the 4 (Harvick) off,” Blaney said post-race. “He was super-fast. I can’t thank Kevin enough for racing me clean. That was really cool of him, but it was definitely hectic. Hopefully, the fans liked it. It was really cool.”
Harvick settled for second place while rookie Erik Jones posted his best-ever Cup Series finish with a third place result. Kurt Busch was fourth while Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five. Kyle Busch, who won the first stage of the race and led a race-high 100 laps, faded quickly in final moments of the race to come home ninth.
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It should be posted on Ford Authority. Not even a single word of the Chevrolets.