Dominant Blaney Takes Overtime Win Over Bell, Hocevar At Atlanta

For the majority of the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway, it was clear that Ryan Blaney had the best car in the field. However, a three-hour-plus weather delay, and an overtime finish were just some of the obstacles in Blaney's path to a victory.

Neither could stop him, as the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang was simply too strong on Sunday night/Monday morning.

Blaney led 171 of the 263 laps in the race, but as a Kyle Larson crash sent the race into overtime, Blaney was playing second fiddle to Carson Hocevar, who was scored as the race's leader. Unfortunately, for Hocevar, his lack of friends on the track, likely caused him to lose out on his second career victory.

Bubba Wallace, and then Christopher Bell paired with Blaney in overtime, and helped shove the Team Penske driver past Hocevar for the lead, and ultimately the win.

“Bubba [Wallace] gave me really good shoves on the restart. We got hooked up really good. Then, yeah, gosh, Bubba and I got a huge run down the front straightaway. Bubba went three-wide bottom down the back, lined up for a really cool finish at the line,” Blaney said.

Blaney continued, “I really have to shout out Christopher Bell for being right on my bumper all the way through [Turns 3 and 4]. He was a big reason why we won the race. Appreciate that, Christopher.”

This win equals the second of the season for Blaney, and it is his 19th career win.

Wallace would cross the finish line with a solid runner-up finish, initially, but was stripped of the finish after NASCAR determined that Wallace advanced his position below the out-of-bounds line on the backstretch on the final lap of the race.

Wallace, who finished just 0.063 seconds behind Blaney, would be booted to a 29th-place finish. Bell, who finished 0.068 seconds back, was elevated to the runner-up finish, which is his fifth second-place result of what has been a frustration-filled season.

Hocevar would come home with a third-place finish, while Ty Gibbs, and Erik Jones were scored in fourth and fifth-place respectively.

Denny Hamlin, who finished 12th, maintains a 24-point lead over Tyler Reddick heading into next weekend's event at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Both Hamlin and Reddick clinched their berths into the NASCAR Cup Series Chase for the Championship at Atlanta.

Ryan Blaney didn't clinch, but was able to cut his deficit to the point lead to just 65 points, and he now has a seemingly realistic chance to fight for the regular-season championship.

Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, July 19. That race will be televised on TNT Sports with coverage set to kick off at 7:00 PM ET. The Performance Racing Network (PRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of that race.

Quaker State 400 Race Results

1. 12 - Ryan Blaney
2. 20 - Christopher Bell
3. 77 - Carson Hocevar
4. 54 - Ty Gibbs
5. 43 - Erik Jones
6. 97 - Shane van Gisbergen
7. 3 - Austin Dillon
8. 45 - Tyler Reddick
9. 22 - Joey Logano
10. 17 - Chris Buescher
11. 1 - Ross Chastain
12. 11 - Denny Hamlin
13. 9 - Chase Elliott
14. 2 - Austin Cindric
15. 71 - Michael McDowell
16. 24 - William Byron
17. 41 - Cole Custer
18. 42 - John Hunter Nemechek
19. 34 - Todd Gilliland
20. 10 - Ty Dillon
21. 7 - Daniel Suarez
22. 48 - Alex Bowman
23. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
24. 60 - Ryan Preece
25. 21 - Josh Berry
26. 6 - Brad Keselowski
27. 4 - Noah Gragson
28. 88 - Connor Zilisch
29. 23 - Bubba Wallace
30. 38 - Zane Smith
31. 33 - Austin Hill
32. 51 - Cody Ware
33. 66 - Chad Finchum
34. 5 - Kyle Larson
35. 35 - Riley Herbst
36. 19 - Chase Briscoe
37. 16 - AJ Allmendinger
38. 78 - B.J. McLeod

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