LOUDON, N.H. – Ryan Blaney, the reigning Cup champion, led the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with a dominant victory for Team Penske, showcasing his speed at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday.Blaney, who is seeking to reach the season finale for the third consecutive year, became the first driver to secure a spot among the eight available in the third round of the playoffs.“What a great day, what a great weekend, a super fast car. It’s great to get a win in the first race of the round,” Blaney declared.Blaney led 116 laps, including the final 39, beating Josh Berry by 0.937 seconds to earn his third win of the season.William Byron finished third, while Joey Logano, Blaney’s teammate at Penske, took fourth place after leading 147 of the race’s 301 laps.
Incidents between teammates
The race became tense for Joe Gibbs Racing on lap 110 when Denny Hamlin spun his teammate Ty Gibbs into the wall in Turn 2 while they were competing for 11th place. Gibbs, the only JGR driver who didn’t qualify for the playoffs, seemed to be hindering the progress of his teammates Hamlin and Christopher Bell when the incident occurred.“Does Ty know we’re racing for a championship?” Hamlin said over his team radio shortly before they made contact. “What the hell is he doing?”
Denny HamlinAfter the crash, Hamlin questioned whether the team owner’s grandson, Joe Gibbs, was receiving preferential treatment. “They’re afraid to talk to him. That’s what I feel,” Hamlin said over the radio to his team. “They’re just afraid of him.”Ty Gibbs briefly returned to the track before being forced to enter the garage with damage to his Camry. He finished 34th and refused to address the incident or what Hamlin said when directly asked about both.After dominating the first round with three consecutive victories, Joe Gibbs Racing surprisingly faltered in the first stage at New Hampshire, where the team had won the last three Cup races and six consecutive stages.The team failed to score points in the first stage on Sunday, as Hamlin, Bell, and Chase Briscoe finished outside the top 10 in the 70-lap segment.The second race of the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is Sunday at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Larson won on the 1.5-mile circuit…“It’s unfortunate, but I’m excited to race next week and I’m looking forward to it,” said Gibbs, the 2022 Xfinity Series champion, who remains winless after 117 Cup series races.
Ty Gibbs
