Blaney wins sprint to finish line to secure big victory at Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. — In a battle of Ford drivers in which the blue oval was determined to find its way to Victory Lane, Ryan Blaney held off Kevin Harvick at the Talladega Superspeedway finish line as Blaney advanced into the round of eight of NASCAR’S playoffs.
Harvick, who is retiring at the end of the year, remained winless on the season and was disqualified after the race when his car failed inspection.
Blaney used a crossover move from the outside lane to the inside to nudge ahead of Harvick with two laps remaining. Blaney in his Ford for Team Penske and Harvick in a Ford for Stewart-haas Racing finished essentially in a drag race with both drivers refusing to lift as a crash broke out behind them.
“I’ve won it by more than I have the last couple years. That one might have been by 4 feet, the others were by 2, but you just don’t know,” said Blaney, a three-time winner at Talladega. “You just kind of drag race a line and hope you get help.”
Blaney joined William Byron as the two drivers locked into the round of eight. The field of 12 will be pared next Sunday to eight following the race on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Blaney boss Roger Penske praised the strategy of the Ford camp to work together to ensure a Ford victory as the Chevrolets from Hendrick Motorsports were making a quick challenge.
“For Harvick, who it was his last race here, working like he did with Ryan, it was amazing to see that,” Penske said. “The Hendrick freight train was coming, and we all stayed together — that was the call that Ford had earlier in the day when we talked. It was just perfect execution.”
Blaney, winner of the Coca-cola 600 at Charlotte in May, has multiple wins in a season for the second time. But he’s got a lopsided stat this season in that he has only five top-five finishes but two wins.
“It was a pretty wild restart, let alone the last couple of laps, losing momentum and getting it back, just getting clear to the bottom to get to the front row and drag race it out with Kevin,” Blaney said. “To win here three times at Talladega is super cool.”