Blaney wins second consecutive NASCAR Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Back-to-back in the Granite State

LOUDON, N.H. — Ryan Blaney won his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, holding off Bubba Wallace by 0.586 seconds after a late-race battle through lapped traffic. The Team Penske driver led a race-high 115 of 301 laps and charged from 17th to first, according to multiple reports.

Blaney's victory was his 20th career Cup win and third of the season. He now sits second in the standings, as reported by the Athens Banner-Herald.

The win was not without adversity. A lug nut fell off the left-front tire of Blaney's No. 12 Ford during a pit stop under caution with 111 laps remaining, forcing him to work his way back through the field. He was up to seventh when a three-car crash brought out the yellow flag on Lap 226. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler then made an aggressive call for two right-side tires, and Blaney gained six spots in the pits to retake the lead, according to TSN and Yardbarker.

Blaney led the final 74 laps on the 1.058-mile oval, per TSN.

A hard-fought finish

The closing laps were tense. Blaney, on older tires, had to manage both lapped traffic and a charging Wallace, who had taken four tires and restarted sixth. By Lap 282, Blaney had opened a two-second advantage, but lapped traffic allowed Wallace to close to within a second by Lap 291. Wallace locked up his right-front tire in Turn 3 on Lap 298, and Blaney held on for the win, as detailed by Essentially Sports.

"You know, we did two at the end, trying to hopefully get the lead, and we did. It was a long, long run to the end there," Blaney said in a post-race interview, according to Essentially Sports. "The long run we had, just tried to manage my stuff, and I knew those four tire guys would probably pressure me eventually, and Bubba kind of came on pretty hard there, and just trying to manage the lap traffic, also trying to manage tire and just not make a mistake."

After the race, Blaney turned his attention to the trophy — a lobster named "Loudon the Lobster." "It's cool to win here two in a row," he said on the USA Sports broadcast, as reported by the Athens Banner-Herald. "I look forward to getting another lobster." He added: "Hang it right up next to the first one."

Team Penske's run continues

Blaney's win marked the fourth victory in the last six races for Team Penske, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. Blaney started the run at Atlanta on July 12, and Joey Logano followed with wins at North Wilkesboro and Richmond. Austin Cindric also finished a season-best third last week, the Athens Banner-Herald reported.

"Props to everybody at Team Penske who's keeping their head down and working hard," Blaney said, as quoted by the Athens Banner-Herald.

Yardbarker noted that Blaney has now won two of the last six races and has led triple-digit laps in three of them.

Berry's strong showing amid uncertain future

Josh Berry finished third, a season-best result and his fourth consecutive top-10 for Wood Brothers Racing. Berry led 73 laps, according to the Athens Banner-Herald, and became the first Wood Brothers driver with four straight top-10s since Morgan Shepherd in 1994.

"That was everything I had and everything I could do today," Berry said, as reported by the Athens Banner-Herald.

Berry's performance comes as he searches for a ride for 2027. Wood Brothers Racing announced in June that Berry will not drive the No. 21 Ford next season, with Jesse Love set to replace him, the Athens Banner-Herald reported. Berry remains without a ride for 2027, but his recent results — seventh at Indianapolis, fourth at Iowa, eighth at Richmond, and now third at New Hampshire — could help his cause.

Berry is eliminated from Chase contention and moved from 30th to 29th in points, per the Athens Banner-Herald.

Chase picture tightens

The race also reshaped the battle for the final Chase spot. Ryan Preece finished ninth and gained 19 points on Shane van Gisbergen, who finished 20th and remains in the 16th and final spot for the 10-race title run, according to TSN and Yardbarker. Preece entered the race 50 points outside the provisional field but scored points in both stages, trimming the deficit to 31 points, Yardbarker reported.

Denny Hamlin clinched the No. 1 seed for the Chase with a seventh-place finish, according to Yardbarker.

Ross Chastain's Chase hopes were extinguished after a mechanical problem forced him out after only 40 laps, leaving him last. "The speed has gotten better, so we'll hopefully keep moving forward on that," Chastain said, as quoted by TSN. "That's the important part. With the things in our control, we were able to make them better through the summer. I've learned that's really tough to do in the NASCAR Cup Series. We did get better, but we've got a ways to go."

Carson Hocevar, who had been fifth in points recently, dropped to 11th before New Hampshire and finished 19th, one lap down, after spinning on the pace laps in the rain, Yardbarker reported.

Race conditions and what's next

The race began on wet-weather tires after a midafternoon rain shower, but the track dried quickly and drivers switched to slicks after 40 laps, TSN reported. The race was the Dollar Tree 301, as noted by Yardbarker and the Athens Banner-Herald.

The Cup Series regular season concludes Aug. 29 at Daytona International Speedway with the Coke Zero Sugar 400, a 160-lap race that will air on NBC, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.