Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney claimed his first victory of the season and 8th of his NASCAR Cup Series career after winning the 64th running of the Coca-Cola 600. This Monday’s win marked the first time that team owner, Roger Penske, has ever won the Coca-Cola 600 and Indy 500 in the same year.
“Congratulations to Ford Performance, Roger, Tim, Jonathan, Ryan, and everyone at Team Penske on winning one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events to add to their monumental weekend,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Jonathan and Ryan worked well together throughout the race to lead 7 times and secure the win.”
“What a weekend with Newgarden and Roger winning at Indy and us winning the 600, I mean that’s just so cool. That kind of snaps our winless streak right there and that’s even better. I’m just really thankful to everybody who stuck around with us. It’s huge to have BodyArmor on the car. It’s such a cool car and looking forward to celebrate with these guys and I’m just really proud of the car and the effort that we had and was able to hang on,” commented Blaney.
Monday’s 600-mile race was initially scheduled to begin on Sunday evening but postponed due to rain. Rainfall stayed away until the middle of Stage 2 when the race was stopped. When the race resumed, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher raced to win Stage 2 for a Ford Performance sweep of the top-4 including Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick in P2, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski in P3, and Team Penske’s Joey Logano in P4. NASCAR’s longest race of 2023 featured 31 lead changes with 13 different leaders and 16 cautions, which was the third-most ever in the 600-mile event. Blaney, who started in eighth, led a race-high 163 laps, and won Stage 3. Although several cautions came out late in the race, Blaney was able to hold off William Byron by .663 seconds to win the race.
Ford Performance teammate Chris Buescher with Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing finished in P8, while Zane Smith with Front Row Motorsports finished P10.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 300 followed Monday’s Coca-Cola 600. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer finished P3, while RSS Racing’s Kyle Sieg finished in P11.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Midwest next weekend and races at World Wide Technology Raceway while the Xfinity Series travels to Portland.
