Ryan Blaney breaks winless streak, earns Coca Cola 600 win

By Noah Nelson

Ryan Blaney is finally back in victory lane. Besides his controversial victory in last year’s all-
star event, Blaney hadn’t been victorious in 59 races, dating back to his victory at Daytona in
August of 2021.

As the winless streak grew, so did Blaney’s doubters. Blaney had also never won a race that he
had led more than 100 laps in prior to tonight.

Kyle Petty most notably referred to Blaney as being “the next Kasey Kahne”, referring to Blaney’s potential versus the results that he earned.

Leading a race-high 163 laps, Blaney finally closed the deal on one of his dominant
performances, outrunning William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. to his first checkered flag of
2023.

Coincidentally, both Kahne and Blaney visited victory lane in their respective series in the same
week, with Kahne winning a feature race at Huset’s Speedway.

“You start to get to feel like you can’t win any more when you don’t win for a while,” said an
emotional Blaney.

Blaney’s victory allowed Team Penske to sweep the Memorial Day weekend, as Indycar
teammate Josef Newgarden won the Indianapolis 500 the previous day in a thrilling last-lap duel.
It marks the first time the organization has ever completed the feat.

“It’s just so cool. 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,” Blaney said in
victory lane.

Following Newgarden’s lead, Blaney sprinted into the stands, checkered flag in hand, mingling
with the fans. As Blaney returned to his car, chants of “Blaney! Blaney! Blaney!” rang through
the grandstands. On only the second Coca-Cola 600 to take place on a Monday, both Blaney and
the fans had waited a long time for this moment.

The race began with Byron on the pole by virtue of NASCAR’s performance metric system.
With no practice or qualifying, and the cars set up to race predominantly at night, the early
portions saw plenty of comers and goers. Stewart-Haas Racing was most affected in the early going, with Kevin Harvick dropping from 2nd to 28th during the race’s initial stint, and the rest
of his teammates mired in the thirties.

A lap-35 competition caution allowed the field to make some much-needed adjustments to their
race cars.

Jimmie Johnson, who returned to the track that was once called “The House That Jimmie Built”,
struggled all day in his third start of the year, spinning at lap 72, and ultimately failing to finish.
He has yet to finish a race in 2023.

Stage one saw William Byron battle Christopher Bell for the win, going door-to-door coming the
line as Bell bounced his #20 machine off the wall as he tried to pass on the outside. It would not
be the first time Bell made contact with the wall, in what turned out to be an eventful, and
ultimately disappointing run.

In a bizarre sequence of events, both Noah Gragson and Erik Jones, teammates at Legacy Motor
Club, went to the garage after running over debris and damaging their radiators, ending both
drivers’ chances at a strong run.

Stage two saw plenty of action as well, with weather once again putting a stoppage to the event.
During the red flag, Bubba Wallace and Aric Almirola got into a heated confrontation on pit
road, with Almirola shoving Wallace as security got between the two.

Almirola and Wallace had been racing hard prior to the caution, and had made slight contact
entering turn three, angering Wallace, who “flipped the bird” at Almirola, resulting in Almirola
approaching Wallace during the delay. Wallace finished a strong 4th, while Almirola ended the night 25th.

The race resumed after the short rain delay, and on the ensuing restart, Kyle Busch went around
on the back stretch, driving backwards as he sought a flat spot on the track to turn back around,
fearful of damaging his fast race car.

On lap 186, things got even more interesting, as Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott tangled on the
front stretch.

In a crash mirroring that of Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace at Las Vegas last fall, Elliott
seemingly hooked Hamlin intentionally on the straightaway, retaliating against Hamlin for
squeezing him into the wall on corner exit.

Hamlin was livid in his interview, calling for Elliott’s suspension.

“I got right-rear hooked in the middle of the straightway,” Hamlin said. “Yes, it was a tantrum.
He shouldn’t be racing next week. Right-rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. He shouldn’t be
racing.”

Elliott denied having wrecked Hamlin on purpose.

“(Hamlin) put me in the fence, and once you take the right sides off these things it’s kind of
over,” Elliott said. “Once you hit the wall in these things, you can’t drive them any more.”
On Twitter during the race, Hamlin shared telemetry and data as evidence supporting his view
that Elliott retaliated. NASCAR states that it will take a look at the incident in the next 24-48
hours.

This controversial incident set up the stage two finish, where Chris Buescher scooted past Kevin
Harvick to score the top spot. The stage ended under caution after a spin by B.J. McLeod.
Unfortunately for Buescher, who rebounded for eighth after falling behind in stage three, it was
the only time he would be out front during the event.

“It was a really strong day. Our Fastenal Mustang was really good. We got hit on pit road and
definitely got a decent amount taken out of us, so I’m upset about that. But at the end of the day,
it was a good recovery,” said Buescher.

In stage three, Blaney surged to the front. Two cautions slowed the field down, as Christopher
Bell spun the infield, and then Brad Keselowski tangled with Todd Gilliland.

Byron won the race off of pit road, but Blaney took the lead and ultimately, the third stage win.
As the race entered the final stage though, Blaney’s strength did not go unchallenged, as a
number of late cautions forced Blaney to defend, and in some cases, retake the lead.

With 26 laps to go, Kyle Larson spun during a restart, collecting multiple cars, including Ty
Gibbs and Christopher Bell, who both had great days until that point. Blaney, who restarted
second, had just gotten past William Byron when the caution flew.

On the final restart, Blaney blasted through the restart zone, setting sail and never looking back
as his competitors battled behind him, capturing his eighth career victory, his first in one of
NASCAR’s “crown jewel” events.

NASCAR’s top division heads to St. Louis and the World Wide Technology Raceway.
Defending race winner Joey Logano hopes to continue Team Penske’s winning ways and get his
summer stretch jump started after a rough stretch. Ross Chastain, who’s rivalry with Denny
Hamlin reached a boiling point at Gateway last season, holds a one point advantage on Ryan
Blaney in the regular season points race.

Results from the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway: