Blaney Beats The Heat For Pocono Podium Rally

Ryan Blaney in action at Pocono Raceway. (Declan Wayman/Race Face Digital photo)

LONG POND, Pa. – Through a battle of attrition, fitness and endurance, NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney showed plenty of heart and overcame challenges at Pocono Raceway en route to a podium performance.

After his driver’s cool suit failed in stage one, Blaney rallied through a speeding penalty to finish third on Sunday in the Great American Getaway 400, securing his seventh top five of the season and second straight finish of third or better at the ‘Tricky Triangle’.

“It was hot. I flipped my cool suit on at probably lap 15. In the car, I was like “it's going to be a long day,” said Blaney. “It was warm, but I was able to just keep going. I’m really proud of the whole No. 12 team from starting in the back then making good ground. Me speeding on pit road set us back.”

Blaney’s race began in the back of the field after his team had to change a starter on the engine. With dirty air playing a massive factor into the driver's ability to pass on track, Blaney was already at a deficit. To make matters worse, on Saturday he qualified 20th based on pure speed.

With heavy work laid out ahead, the 31-year-old had to find a way to turn a possibly doomed outing upright. Then his cool suit failed, where temperatures in the race cars were upwards of 110 degrees.

Add to all that, on lap 58 he sped on pit road in the middle of stage two, and Blaney’s end result was beyond impressive – even if he couldn’t catch winner Chase Briscoe and runner-up Denny Hamlin.

“[Crew chief] Jonathan Hassler and the whole No. 12 team did a good job of figuring out what to do from the start of the race and after my mistake on pit road,” Blaney said. “I was just kind of stuck there at the end behind Denny and Chase; all three of us just kind of ran the same pace at the end.”

While he did speed on pit road and had to climb his way through the field twice, Blaney was able to finish eighth in stage two to collect three stage points prior to his rebound to third overall.

Blaney now has four total top fives at Pocono, including his two wins in 2017 and 2024.

“Obviously I would have liked to have won, but I think after having to start in the back, then the mistake I made, I feel like we recovered really well,” Blaney pointed out. “Our car was fast enough to do it.”

Post race Blaney fell to his knees and had to be tended to by the AMR Safety team and was taken to the infield care center due to heat exhaustion from the cool-suit failure. But he leaves NASCAR’s annual trip to the Pocono Mountains sixth in the regular season standings and in comfortable position.

Next week, looking toward EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), Blaney has been excellent in his career since the track’s repave in 2022. The Hartford, Ohio, native has a six-race top 10 streak going at the track, and hasn’t finished worse than fourth there since 2023.

But he wanted another win from Pocono and knew he came close to achieving just that.

“Overall, I feel we made the most of our day,” Blaney tipped. “Just a little extra at the end would have been enough for one or two spots for the win. But I am really proud of the effort of the whole No. 12 team. I appreciate Wabash, Ford Mustang Performance, Menards Body Armor, DEX Imaging, Advance Auto Parts.

“It was a really good day for us.”

Coverage of the Quaker State 400 from Atlanta begins Saturday night, June 28 at 7 p.m. ET, live on TNT, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.