Ryan Blaney, Penske dominate in second round of Cup playoffs

LOUDON, N.H. -- Ryan Blaney opened the 2nd circular of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with an emphatic triumph for Team Penske, which flaunted its velocity astatine New Hampshire Motor Speedway connected Sunday.

Blaney, the 2023 Cup champion, led 116 laps, including the last 39, to bushed Josh Berry by 0.937 seconds for his 3rd triumph of the season.

Blaney, who is trying to scope the Championship 4 play finale for the 3rd consecutive year, became the archetypal operator to beforehand into 1 of the 8 disposable spots successful the 3rd circular of the Cup playoffs.

"What a chill day, what a chill weekend, ace accelerated car," Blaney said. "It's large to get a triumph successful the archetypal contention of the round."

William Byron finished third, and Joey Logano, Blaney's Penske teammate, took 4th aft starring a race-high 147 of 301 laps.

After qualifying 27th, past among the 12 playoff drivers, Chase Elliott raced to a fifth-place finish.

Christopher Bell took sixth arsenic the apical finishing operator for Joe Gibbs Racing, which went undefeated successful the archetypal circular of the playoffs. Bell was followed by Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain arsenic playoff drivers took 7 of the apical 8 spots connected the 1.058-mile oval.

The Penske Fords backed up their awesome performances successful Saturday's qualifying erstwhile Logano won the rod presumption to headdress a top-three expanse with Blaney and Berry, whose Wood Brothers Racing Ford has a competitory confederation with Penske.

Teammates tangle

The contention turned awkward for Joe Gibbs Racing connected Lap 110 erstwhile Denny Hamlin spun teammate Ty Gibbs into the Turn 2 partition portion racing for 11th. Gibbs, the lone JGR operator who failed to suffice for the playoffs, seemed to beryllium impeding the advancement of teammates Hamlin and Christopher Bell erstwhile the incidental happened.

"Does Ty cognize we're moving for a championship?" Hamlin said connected his squad vigor soon earlier they made contact. "What the f--- is helium doing?"

After the wreck, Hamlin questioned whether the grandson of squad proprietor Joe Gibbs was getting preferential treatment. "Are they acrophobic to speech to him? That's what I consciousness like," Hamlin radioed his team. "They're conscionable frightened of him."

Ty Gibbs concisely returned to the way earlier being forced to the store with harm to his Camry. He finished 34th and refused to code the incidental oregon what Hamlin said erstwhile asked straight astir both.

"It's unfortunate, but I'm excited to spell contention adjacent week and looking guardant to it," said Gibbs, the 2022 Xfinity Series champion who remains winless done 117 starts successful the Cup series.

After dominating the archetypal circular with 3 consecutive victories, Joe Gibbs Racing amazingly faltered successful the archetypal signifier astatine New Hampshire, wherever the squad had won the past 3 Cup races and six consecutive stages.

The squad failed to gain immoderate points successful the archetypal signifier Sunday arsenic Hamlin, Bell and Chase Briscoe finished extracurricular the apical 10 successful the 70-lap segment.

The 2nd contention successful the 2nd circular of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is Sunday astatine Kansas Speedway. Kyle Larson won astatine the 1.5-mile