AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Blaney completed a Team Penske sweep at Phoenix Raceway by winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event, in the process denying Tyler Reddick’s bid for a fourth consecutive triumph to start the season.
Blaney was the race favorite after winning last November in the season finale on the one-mile flat oval, but he had to overcome at least three tire problems that cost him track position. He chased down the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota of Ty Gibbs — the 49th car he passed Sunday — to take the lead in his No. 12 Ford with 10 laps remaining and seal the 18th victory of his career.
“Just perseverance,” said Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion. “We had a couple mistakes that we learned from, got better, had to come from the back a couple times. It’s cool to win, especially after a day like that. Can’t say enough about the (team) for keeping their head down and doing what they do.”
As he celebrated on the front stretch outside of his car, it began to roll away and Blaney had to chase after it to ensure it was in park.
The victory came during a weekend celebration of Team Penske’s 60th season of competition and during a desert doubleheader that bundled IndyCar and NASCAR together at Phoenix. David Malukas won the IndyCar pole position for Roger Penske and then Josef Newgarden won Saturday’s race for the open-wheel series; Joey Logano won the pole for the Cup Series race in Saturday qualifying, and teammate Blaney completed the sweep.
“Really proud of everybody at Team Penske,” Blaney said. “We swept the weekend, Newgarden winning yesterday, us winning today. Can’t wait to see Roger.”
The win was the first this season for Ford after Reddick — in the 23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota — set a Cup Series record by winning the first three races of the season. Reddick took checkered flags on high-banked, high-speed ovals at Daytona International Speedway in Florida and EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta before winning last weekend on the road course at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, but he had to settle for eighth Sunday.
“It would have been nice to make it four,” Reddick said. “Scored the fourth-most amount of points on the day. … Solid day. If we’re not going to win, these are the kind of days we need to have.”
Christopher Bell finished second in a JGR Toyota, reigning Cup champion Kyle Larson was third in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and Gibbs dropped to fourth. Denny Hamlin, who lost a championship bid last November at Phoenix, was fifth Sunday as three of JGR’s four entries finished in the top five.
Bell dominated the race the same way Hamlin did in November and, just like Hamlin, lost because of the wrong pit strategy.
Hamlin in November took four tires on the final pit stop after a late caution and was beat for the championship by Larson, who took two tires. On Sunday, Blaney took two tires, while Bell and Hamlin each took four.
“You win some, you lose some,” said Bell, who led 176 of the 312 laps. “This one stings, but on the positive side, I’m really proud of our entire team. It’s something to build on. It was a day that we needed.”
Bubba Wallace was sixth for 23XI and William Byron was seventh for Hendrick. Toyota drivers took six of the top 10 spots.
The race was slowed by a record-tying 12 cautions, most caused by a rash of tire failures.
Contact between Logano and Ross Chastain caused a multicar crash with less than 100 laps remaining that ruined Anthony Aldredo’s season debut.
Alfredo got the call this past week from Hendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 48 Chevrolet after Alex Bowman was ruled out with vertigo. Alfredo has spent hundreds of hours over the past four years inside a racing simulator doing test work for Hendrick, and Sunday’s start was the best opportunity of his career.
Phoenix marked Alfredo’s first Cup Series start of the season; he qualified for the Daytona 500 driving for tiny Beard Motorsports, but his car was disqualified and kicked out of the field. Alfredo has 43 career starts for smaller teams on NASCAR’s top circuit. The crash caused him to finish 33rd in his first race with NASCAR’s winningest team.