“It Was a Long, Long run to the end!” Ryan Blaney Wins Back-to-Back Cup Race at Magic Mile

2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney came into this Sunday’s race at the iconic New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the with the hope of securing back-to-back races at the iconic venue. It was his best friend in the garage, Bubba Wallace, that stood between him taking home the iconic shrimp trophy.

The first stage witnessed multiple spins involving prominent cup drivers and Blaney was able to survive the wet weather tire chaos. He went on win the second stage before everything went sideways for the No:12 Ford team.  He fell out of the top-10 after a botched up 19-second pit-stop and had to claw his way back the field.

He was able to bounce back by taking advantage of the two cautions and subsequent restarts in stage three of the 301 laps race. Ryan Blaney was able to hold a commanding 5 second lead over everyone other than the No:23 Toyota, who fought him by the nails till the last lap. If not for the bold pit-call at the end, the No:12 team might not have won.

Yeah, that made it difficult. No, it was a good call after our issue on pit road. We did two at the end to try to hopefully get the lead, and we did.

Ryan Blaney told the media, as reported by motorsport.com.

Ryan Blaney explains how the challenging the final laps were

Further talking about the point, Blaney asserted that the last laps were one of the longest runs he has ever had in the sport, as he found himself in a position where a one small mistake would cost him the win. Manging lap traffic and the tires well as the end without any mistakes turned out to be the difference maker for him.

It was a long, long run to the end, longest run we had. Just tried to manage my stuff. Knew the four-tire guys would pressure me eventually. Bubba came on hard there. Just tried to manage the lap traffic and manage the tire, not make a mistake.

Ryan Blaney said.

Later the veteran also talked about the overall race experience and his feelings about the track. He admitted that it was beautiful day and thanked the fans that filled the grandstands despite the challenges owing to the weather.

What a cool race. Fun day starting in the rain. Ended up being beautiful day. Everybody came out, thanks for sticking with it.

Ryan Blaney added.

The veteran was able to secure 71 points from the race enough to concrete his P2 spot behind leader Denny Hamlin, with over 40 points advantage of Ty Gibbs at P3.  With only the Daytona regular season finale left, he would be hoping that his third win of 2026 gave him enough points to start the chase strong.

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