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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 2003 Cup champion led 116 laps in his No. 12 Mustang, including the final 39, but still had to fend off a furious charge by runner-up Josh Berry, who closed within a few car lengths with 10 laps left before overdriving a corner.
Blaney pulled away to win by 0.937 seconds Sunday in his third victory of the season and 16th of his career.
“That was probably the hardest 20 laps that I drove,” the Team Penske driver 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 is trying to reach the Championship 4 season finale for the third consecutive year, became the first driver to advance into one of the eight available spots in the third round of the Cup playoffs.
Berry, whose No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford 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 won 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 in 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. The Middletown, Connecticut, native 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, 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.
Kyle Larson took seventh, and 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 Joe Gibbs Racing on Lap 110 when Denny Hamlin spun teammate Ty Gibbs into the Turn 2 wall while racing for 11th. Gibbs, the only JGR driver who failed to qualify for the playoffs, seemed to be impeding the progress of teammates Hamlin and Christopher Bell when the incident happened.
“Does Ty know we’re running for a championship?” Hamlin said on his team radio shortly before they made contact. “What the (expletive) is he doing?”
After the wreck, Hamlin questioned whether the grandson of 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 Camry. 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 117 starts in the Cup series.
After finishing 12th, Hamlin had a postrace 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,” Hamlin said. “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.”
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 past three Cup races and six consecutive stages.
The team failed to earn any points in the first stage Sunday as Hamlin, Bell and Chase Briscoe finished outside the top 10 in the 70-lap segment.
The second race in the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is Sunday at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Larson won at the 1.5-mile track on May 11.
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