Ryan Blaney rebounded from late damage to his Ford and won a three-wide battle at the line in overtime, taking the checkers in Sunday night’s wild, rain-delayed Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Ga.
The Team Penske driver led a race-high 171 laps but got a shove from Christopher Bell’s No. 20 coming to the stripe to record his second win this season and 19th of his career in the Cup series.
Bell, Carson Hocevar, Ty Gibbs and Erik Jones rounded out the top five after Bubba Wallace, who originally finished runner-up, was penalized for passing below the yellow line and dropped to 29th.
With rain approaching the track south of Atlanta, drivers were advised by their crew chiefs that they might be racing for an hour before the storm arrived, so they set a fast pace to start 60-lap Stage 1 led by polesitter Blaney’s No. 12 Ford.
Stage 1 continued to run green without pit stops until the segment break. The caution flew with Blaney leading every circuit and winning the top bonus points, and Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric followed as Team Penske claimed three of the top five positions.
Reddick was first off pit road, but Blaney regained the point in 100-lap Stage 2, which could not be run without a pit stop. However, the 23XI Racing Toyotas of Wallace and Reddick were close behind at the halfway point of the stage.
The second caution flew on Lap 108 for lightning with Blaney leading Wallace, Reddick, Bell and Chase Elliott. The cars were parked, and the drivers got out for a red-flag condition that began near 8:30 p.m. ET.
After a three-hour-plus delay, drivers returned to their cars and fans to the stands, and Blaney picked up where he left off with a lot of grip and good handling. Logano and Wallace were in hot pursuit after the midnight restart.
The 2023 series champion took the checkers in the second stage, too, holding off Reddick, Logano, Cindric and Daniel Suarez, while Wallace spun off the nose of Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
With 85 laps left, Gibbs, Bell and Denny Hamlin created a 1-2-3 for JGR, and Gibbs held the top spot until AJ Allmendinger spun down the frontstretch on Lap 194 for the fourth caution.
The whole field pitted on varying strategies, and the big movers were Blaney and Wallace, who each gridded inside the top 10 after gaining eight spots apiece.
The fifth caution flew with 29 circuits left when Wallace blocked Blaney and the Penske Ford smacked the wall.
Larson, winless through 44 straight races, brought out the final two cautions inside the last 20 laps to set up the finish.
–Field Level Media
