Blaney Finds Way To Win At Phoenix NASCAR

Photo: 12 Ryan Blaney crosses the finish line in the first NASCAR Cup Series Race in Phoenix

It was an interesting day at the races, yet it turned out to be a very rewarding day at the track for Ryan Blaney who overcame errors in the pit and had to actually race through the field twice to capture the Straight Talk Wireless 500 NASCAR Cup Series Race at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale.

Photo: Blaney on top of his car celebrates with the fans

Blaney passed Ty Gibbs for the lead with just 9 laps remaining, then held off a surge by Christopher Bell to win his first cup race of the season. After what would be the last caution flag of the day, Blaney restarted in the second row on the final restart putting him in prime position to take the checker flag.

Bell came into the race looking for his second win in as many years at the Phoenix Raceway as he took the checkered flag in March 2025. Blaney on the other hand was looking for and got his second consecutive win at Phoenix after winning the fall race in 2025.

Photo: Joey Logano and Christopher Bell leading the pack through turn three

After winning Stage 1, Blaney found himself having to pit twice under caution in order to deal with a loose wheel, leaving a lot of work for the driver to make up.

Blaney had a lot of praise for his team and their ability to overcome multiple issues in order to help him win the race. “It was perseverance from everybody on the 12 group. We had a couple of mistakes we had to learn from and I had to come back from the rear a couple of times. Obviously 20 had the best car today but I was able to hold him off in the final laps.” The win was his first since Blaney became a new father in November 2025. “Oh, I am in trouble. I forgot to face time them in victory lane. It would have been great if both Gianna and Charlie could have been here, but that will happen another day.”

The race featured 12 caution flags, tying a track record. Eleven of the thirty-seven drivers did not finish the race,

Photo: Joey Logano had a big lead early in the race

One of those cars was 22 Joey Logano, who led a good portion of the race from the beginning. Logano saw his day cut short when he got spun out after bumping into AJ Allmindinger. The car spun down the track between turns one and two with the final blows coming when Josh Berry and Daniel Suarez each connected in the front and rear of the 22 car simultaneously. The incident with 58 laps remaining soured what had been a promising day for Logano. “ I felt like we had a fast car and were in a good spot to win,” said Logano. About the accident, “Everyone just ran out of space. There were two cars on the outside and one on the inside. Everyone just ran out of space and I got the wrong end of it. It is what it is.”

Photo: 3 Austin Dillon and his brother 10 Ty Dillon get by 97 Shane van Gisbergen (SVG) on lap 154

Christopher Bell won Stage 2 and led 176 laps of the 312 lap race but when he pitted with 12 laps to go, that most likely cost him the win. His crew decided to replace all four tires instead of just two and those few extra seconds can make all the difference, as it appears to have done in this case. Bell was looking for his third checker flag in Phoenix but finished second. Bell said, “I think if we had more green flag laps I think we would have made a run at them. You win some and you lose some. This one stings, but on a positive side, our engineers and mechanics did a really good job and that is something we can build on. We did get a lot of stage points. I am just kind of bummed when one gets away like it did today.”

Kyle Larson had his best Cup Series Race of the season finishing third. It was his fourth straight top five finish in Phoenix. Despite that, Larson was not a happy camper. “We need to be better. It was frustrating all day and we struggled all weekend. I am proud of the team that we salvaged third. I was not expecting that with how bad we were running.”

Ty Gibbs, who held the lead late in the race before losing it with 9 laps remaining ended in fourth place. Gibbs said, “The crew did a great job today. We had a good car and I had a blast out there and was very happy to take home a top five finish.”

Denny Hamlin finished fifth, his best this season in the four Cup Series races. William Byron won the race here in 2023, finished his day in seventh.

The win by Blaney ended the three race win streak by Tyler Reddick, who ended his day in eighth place.