LOUDON, N.H. — In a race in which Fords were fastest at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney barely was best in class for the second-round opener of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
The 2023 season’s champion led 116 laps in his Team Penske No. 12 Ford on Sunday at New Hampshire, including the final 39, but he still had to fend off a furious charge by runner-up Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing, who closed within a few car lengths with 10 laps left before overdriving a corner.
Blaney pulled away to win by less than a second (0.937) in his third victory of the season and the 16th of his Cup Series career.
“That was probably the hardest 20 laps that I drove,” Blaney said. “I was trying to kind of bide my stuff and pull Josh a little bit, then he really started coming. It was all I could do to hold him off, trying new lanes. That was good and clean racing. I appreciate Josh for not throwing me the bumper when he could have.
“What a cool day, what a cool weekend. Super fast car. Really have been strong through the playoffs. It’s great to get a win in the first race of the round.”
Blaney, who has been one the four drivers eligible for the title in the season finale the past two years, became the first driver to advance into one of the eight available spots in the third round of this year’s playoffs.
Berry, whose No. 21 Ford team has a competitive alliance with Penske, overcame a spin on the 82nd lap and rebounded from his first-round elimination after finishing last in each of the first three races in the playoffs.
“It was definitely an awesome day,” said Berry, who led 10 laps. “Hats off to Ryan at the end. All our cars were really strong, and Ryan did a great job there. I was honestly surprised I was able to keep him honest at the end.
“Just a shame to finish second, but after the last couple of weeks, it feels good. This is definitely what we’re capable of, and hopefully we can keep it going.”
The Fords backed up their impressive performances in qualifying Saturday, when Penske star Joey Logano — who won his third Cup Series title last season — clinched the pole position to cap a sweep of the top three starting spots with Blaney and Berry. The same trio led 273 of 301 laps Sunday.
William Byron was the highest-finishing Chevrolet driver, with his Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 taking third.
“It was a good day overall,” said Byron, who is the highest-ranked driver behind Blaney in the playoff standings with two races left in the second round. “Penske guys were super fast. I felt like they were in another zip code.”
Logano took fourth after leading a race-high 147 laps in the No. 22 Ford. A native of Middletown, Connecticut, he started from the pole for the first time at New Hampshire, which he considers his home track.
“(Blaney) was wicked fast in practice, and he showed that again in the race,” Logano said. “We obviously got a ton of points today, so we did what we needed to do, but I’d rather win. That’s just the greed in me, especially when it’s home.”
After qualifying 27th, last among the 12 playoff drivers, Hendrick’s Chase Elliott raced to a fifth-place finish.
Christopher Bell took sixth as the top finishing Toyota driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, which went undefeated in the first round of the playoffs. Hendrick’s Kyle Larson took seventh, and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain was ninth as playoff drivers took eight of the top 10 spots on the 1.058-mile oval.
The race turned awkward for JGR on the 110th lap when Denny Hamlin spun teammate Ty Gibbs into the wall on the second turn while racing for 11th. Gibbs, the only JGR driver who failed to qualify for the playoffs, seemed to be impeding the progress of teammates Bell and Hamlin when the incident happened.
“Does Ty know we’re running for a championship?” the 44-year-old Hamlin — whose 59 Cup Series wins, including three Daytona 500s, are the most for any driver without a title — said on his team radio shortly before they made contact. “What the (expletive) is he doing?”
After the wreck, Hamlin questioned whether the 22-year-old grandson of NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Joe Gibbs was getting preferential treatment.
“Are they afraid to talk to him? That’s what I feel like,” Hamlin radioed his team. “They’re just scared of him.”
Ty Gibbs briefly returned to the track before being forced to the garage with damage to his car. He finished 34th and refused to address the incident or what Hamlin said when asked directly about both.
“It’s unfortunate, but I’m excited to go race next week and looking forward to it,” said Gibbs, the 2022 Xfinity Series champion who remains winless through his first 117 starts in the Cup series.
After finishing 12th, Hamlin had a conversation with Joe Gibbs and JGR director of competition Chris Gabehart before addressing the media.
“It’s super unfortunate he got spun there, and obviously the contact came from us,” said Hamlin, who is also a team co-owner for 23XI Racing. “I don’t have any comment other than that. We’ll work through it and all, but we’ll see how it goes. But honestly, it’s unfortunate the contact happened.”
The second round continues next Sunday at Kansas Speedway, the 1.5-mile oval where Larson won on May 11 as Bell finished second and Blaney was third.