Blaney wins in photo finish to advance in NASCAR’s playoffs
Newman settles for 2nd place, Hamlin finishes 3rd
TALLADEGA, Alabama, Oct 15, (AP): Ryan Blaney emerged safely from the wreckage at Talladega Superspeedway that claimed other playoff contenders, winning by a tiny margin that was huge for his championship hopes.
Blaney beat Ryan Newman in a door-to-door race to the finish line to win and advance to the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs.
Blaney’s first win of the season came as he was in danger of getting eliminated from title contention. The playoff field will be trimmed from 12 drivers to eight next weekend at Kansas. Blaney had little margin for error after he had mechanical issues at Dover last weekend and finished 35th.
After the win, he spotted a young fan in the crowd wearing his shirt and handed the boy the checkered flag.
The race began Sunday but was postponed by rain after the first stage. The delay gave Blaney time to recover from a Sunday spin as he tried to enter pit road, and ended with Ford and Team Penske as winners. Ford had won seven consecutive Talladega races until Chevrolet snapped that streak in April.
Blaney was the leader on a restart with two laps remaining and had a huge push from fellow Ford driver Aric Almirola to gain space on the field. Then Newman came charging along on the outside line with help from Denny Hamlin and he easily zipped past Blaney.
But the Ford train remained committed and Blaney got another push from Almirola to pull alongside Newman. The two raced door-to-door to the finish line, with Blaney winning by a nose. The 0.0070-second margin of victory was the sixth-closest in the history of Talladega, which celebrated its 50th anniversary all weekend.
The win capped a remarkable weekend for the Penske organization, which on Saturday claimed the IMSA overall sports car championship with Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya, and then in Australia won the Bathurst 1000 with Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard.
It was Ford’s sixth straight Talladega playoff victory and Team Penske’s seventh win in the last seven Cup races at the Alabama Superspeedway.
The race had critical playoff implications as many of the title contenders struggled, and Hendrick Motorsports’ entire lineup is at risk of elimination next weekend. Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and William Byron are all below the cutline, as is Kansas native Clint Bowyer, who could be eliminated at his home track.
Newman, who was followed by Hamlin in a Toyota, said he knew Blaney was ahead of him at the line.
It was a 1-2 sweep for Ford on a weekend in which manufacturer alliances were heavily scrutinized.