Triple Crown Winner

Iowa Speedway hosted an historic race on Sunday. And Ryan Blaney made a little bit of history, too.

The NASCAR Cup Series drivers raced around Newton’s 7/8-mile oval for the first time and Blaney became the first to win a race at all three of NASCAR national series here when he drove his No. 12 Team Penske Ford to victory in front of a sell-out crowd.

“What a cool way to win here,” said Blaney, who led the final 88 laps of the inaugural Cup race. “We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on, so they willed us to that one. Overall, I really appreciate the whole (No. 12 team). I mean, our car was really fast all night and we got a little bit better through the night, and two tires was a good call there.”

The reigning series champion crossed the finish line 0.716 seconds ahead of runner-up William Byron, who was racing on four new tires after a pit stop under caution for Chris Buescher’s accident on Lap 260.

The decision to go on just two fresh tires late in the race came from Blaney’s crew chief, Jonathan Hassler.

“I was nervous. To go out there on two tires, and be one of the few who were, you know at some point the other guys are going to be faster,” Hassler said. “You just hope it works out.”

The victory was Blaney’s first of the season and the 11th of his career. Blaney now has won at Iowa Speedway in all three NASCAR national series, having triumphed in the Truck Series in 2012 and the Xfinity Series in 2015.

The race winner led four times for 201 of 350 laps on a track that was repaved in the bottom two lanes in the corners.

In a race that featured eight cautions for 49 laps, Chase Elliott finished third followed by Christopher Bell, who started from the rear of the field in a backup car after blowing a right front tire and crashing in Friday’s practice.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came home fifth with Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski completing the top 10.

“I told someone in Victory Lane that it was the most nervous I’ve ever been with 35 laps to go in a long time,” said Michael Nelson, who is the President of NASCAR Operations at Team Penske. “I definitely counted down each lap there at the end. “We’re excited to win the first one and hope to get many more here.”

Byron, the runner-up who never led a lap and was outside the top 10 after Stage 2, wasn’t surprised Blaney won the race on two fresh tires, given the quality of the Team Penske driver’s No. 12 Ford.

“No, he had a really good car so he was up front and contending a lot, and him and the 5 (pole winner Kyle Larson) were really good,” Byron said. “We were just a step off of that, you know?

“Proud of the effort. It was a really good night, and I feel like we can learn from this and build from it to be a little bit better.”

The race featured 17 lead changes by nine different drivers. After Blaney, Kyle Larson led the second-most laps with 80. Josh Berry led two times for 32 laps.

Blaney was the Stage 1 winner, while Larson was first to the finish at the end of Stage 2.

“He was really good early. He drove away from everyone in the first stage until that pit stop,” Blaney said about Larson. “We got closer to him as the race went along, but he was super fast. He was the driver to beat early, but we got better as the race went on. You never know how things will play out, but he was definitely strong.”

Larson pitted on lap 81 because of a left tire issue. He got back into 19th on lap 98, reached ninth at lap 110, moved back into the top five at 148 and regained the lead before the 200th lap.

The restart after the second stage break changed the entire dynamic of the race. Larson had just taken the green/checkered flag to claim his eighth stage victory of the season.

But on lap 220, contact from Suarez’s Chevrolet sent Larson’s Camaro spinning into the outside wall on the front stretch, pinching Denny Hamlin’s Toyota into the barrier in the process.

Larson’s crew eventually repaired the wounded machine but not until the 2021 champion had lost 31 laps in the garage. Larson finished 34th and lost the series lead to Elliott, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.

Four of the top five finishers have multiple wins at Iowa. Blaney didn’t necessarily think that played a factor in the race.

“I don’t think anything applied from previous years,” Blaney said. “A lot of guys had experience here for sure, but that might be the only advantage. The track was very different than it was nine years ago.”

Notes: Hendrick Motorsports had all four of its drivers in the top 10 at lap 122 and finished with three in the top 10 and two in the top three. … Larson raced in Knoxville on Friday night and Blaney made an appearance there on Saturday. The latter was asked about a return trip to Iowa Speedway in the future, and Blaney hopes to come back for a while. “It’s a special place. There are very dedicated race fans here,” Blaney said. “This place deserves it. The state deserves it. This area has earned it. The crowd tonight was awesome. It was a packed house. If that doesn’t make them want to come back here I don’t know what will.” … Blaney’s Mom is from Iowa. He said he comes to the state every year for Christmas. “It was cool to have my family here to support me,” Blaney said. “They were here in 2012 when I won in a truck and 2015 when I won the Xfinity race. It was very special to have my family here.” … Joey Logano, who finished sixth, hopes the track eventually repaves the entire surface. “I’m not sure why they didn’t just do the whole thing,” Logano said. “It looks like they ran out of money. They definitely ran out of something.” … Larson (583) trails Elliott (591) by eight points in the standings with nine races left in the regular season. Hamlin (553), Byron (537) and Martin Truex Jr. (530) complete the top five. Truex Jr., who announced his retirement earlier in the weekend, finished 15th on Sunday and Hamlin was 24th.