NASCAR
Ryan Blaney rallies for Phoenix victory, completes Penske weekend sweep
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
PHOENIX, AZ – Ryan Blaney completed a hard-earned Team Penske sweep at the famed Phoenix Raceway in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500 – recovering from multiple early race setbacks to claim his first NASAR Cup Series trophy of the 2026 season and answer his Penske team’s Saturday IndyCar win at the track with a spectacular and popular stock car victory a day later.
A pair of pit stop issues – including a penalty for pitting outside his box – put Blaney at the rear of the field twice early in the race but the 2023 series champion was not to be denied – rallying back in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford and taking the lead for good with 10 laps remaining.
Blaney’s team took tire tires on a final stop on a caution with 12 laps remaining and made his way forward after restarting on the second row.
He got around then race leader Ty Gibbs with 10 to go and then held off Gibbs’ Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell who led the most laps – 176 of 312 – but faced a huge task moving up from an eighth-place position on the final restart as the first car to take four tires. With the fresh Goodyear rubber, Bell at least kept Blaney honest, cutting into the lead with each lap, but ultimately coming .399-second short.
“Just perseverance,” Blaney conceded of his afternoon. “I mean, everybody on the 12-group persevered all day. We had a couple mistakes that we learned from, got better, had to come from the back a couple times.
“Obviously the 20 [Bell] was the best car. But [Blaney’s crew chief] Jonathan [Hassler] made a great call to take two [on last stop]. We were able to get the lead. Hold them off. I don’t know how many more laps I could have held them off.
“Really proud of everybody at Team Penske. We swept the weekend with [Josef] Newgarden winning yesterday, us winning today. Can’t wait to see [team owner] Roger [Penske]. … Can’t say enough about the 12 guys for keeping their head down and doing what they do and Jonathan again for making a good call at the end.”
Bright sun and temperatures near 90-degrees welcomed a huge crowd for the Sunday’s second half of the well-received racing doubleheader weekend with both IndyCar and NASCAR marquee events. Many of the open-wheel racers stayed at track and found spots atop team pit stands to watch the stock cars compete.
And the Penske team certainly made the most of the unique doubleheader opportunity.
It marks the 32-year-old Blaney’s 18th career victory and second at Phoenix and vaults him to second place in the championship standings – now 60 points behind 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who saw his historic three-race winning streak to start the season end with an eighth-place showing Sunday.
Reddick ran among the top-10 throughout the race but never truly challenged for the victory.
“We kind of just hovered around fifth all day,” conceded Reddick, whose 23XI Racing team co-owner Michael Jordan was again trackside in support of the organization’s record-setting 2026 season start.
“Looking at the board over here, scored the fourth most amount of points on the day,” he added. “That’s kind of what we need to keep doing all year to keep the lead that we have and try and hang on to it. Solid day. If we’re not going to win, these are the kind of days we need to have. Glad to get out of here with some points.”
Bell, the defending race winner, whose own three-race winning streak last season included this Phoenix race, was understandably disappointed to finish runner-up after leading the most laps. The upside, however, is that his No. 20 JGR team dramatically moved up from 18th in the championship standings before the race to now sixth place heading to Las Vegas next week. He and Blaney each won a stage Sunday.
“Ultimately, if we had more green flag laps, I think we could have made a run at him,” Bell said. “I don’t know. You win some, you lose some. This one stings, but on the positive side I’m really proud of our entire team. It’s something to build on. It was a day that we needed. We got a lot of stage points, finished second – just bummed whenever they get away like that.”
Beyond Blaney and Bell, reigning series champion, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson finished third followed by Bell’s JGR teammates Gibbs – who now has back-to-back fourth-place finishes on the season – and Denny Hamlin.
Reddick’s teammate Bubba Wallace was sixth, followed by Hendrick’s William Byron, Reddick, Spire Motorsports Michael McDowell and Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones. Popular driver Shane Van Gisbergen – the series road racing ace – rallied to an 11th-place showing even after being involved in multiple incidents on the day.
The race’s 12 cautions tied the track record for yellow flags. There were eight leaders and 23 lead changes.
Anthony Alfredo, who was subbing for Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman, finished 33rd in the No. 48 Chevrolet, collected in a multi-car crash with just less than 100 laps remaining.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for next Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (4 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry is the defending race winner.
BROOKLYN, MI (June 6, 2026) – Kris Wright and the No. 81 McAnally Hilgemann Racing team a hoping for better days after a frustrating DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Wright started 27th in the No. 81 iHeart Radio Silverado RST on the 2-mile oval. The race was only 7-laps old when Wright was involved in an accident, causing him to lose a lap while his team made repairs.
Wright was quickly back on pit road on Lap 18 after a left rear tire issue required additional work by his crew. Wright returned to the race three laps down at that point.
“Brutal day for our iHeartRadio team,” said Wright. “The No. 81 crew worked hard all weekend to get speed in the truck, and we never really had the opportunity to show what we were capable of.”
Fuel-only pit stops during the races final stage enabled Wright and his team to finish 31st. Corey Heim was the race winner.
Fan favorite Cleetus McFarland, in only his second series start, rallied from a late race spin that brought out one of seven yellow flags – and finished 25th on the lead lap.
The trucks are off next week and will return to action June 19 in the inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race in San Diego on the Naval Base Coronado (7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I’m looking forward to getting to San Diego in a couple of weeks,” said Wright. “Road courses have always suited my driving style, and it’ll be special to spend the weekend in Coronado celebrating the military members who will be in attendance.”
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
BROOKLYN, MI (June 6. 2026) – Reigning NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Corey Heim held off a dramatic checkered flag charge – in lapped traffic – from his TRICON Garage teammate Kaden Honeycutt to claim his first career win at the iconic Michigan International Speedway in Saturday’s DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics.
It’s Heim’s 26th career victory, but first ever on the two-mile Michigan high banks giving him series wins now on 22 different tracks – second best all-time only NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. has won at 31 venues. It’s Heim’s third win in only five truck starts this season and comes a week after announcing he will join the championship-leading 23XI Racing organization in the NASCAR Cup Series for 2027.
Heim’s No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota passed the day’s most dominant truck driven by NASCAR Cup Series regular Carson Hocevar with 15 laps remaining and crossed the line only .065-second ahead of Honeycutt’s No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota – the truck Heim drove to the championship last season.
He immediately thanked Honeycutt for the push forward in the final laps – his only laps out front all day – acknowledging the help put just enough distance on Hocevar, who led a race best 65 of the 126 laps.
“We discussed it pre-race that we were going to race it out in the end and that’s what we did,” the 23-year-old Georgia native Heim said. “He tried to get to my right rear there which would have probably won the race and I had to protect it.
“Props to Kaden there and to [fellow Toyota driver] Christopher Bell, I don’t know where he ended up but he was strong all day. The last couple laps there at the end, were pretty awesome.
“That was a lot of fun, I had a blast,” he added.
The 21-year-old Honeycutt certainly kept Heim honest in the closing run to the checkered, hoping to earn his second career win – matching his work at Watkins Glen, N.Y. in May.
“Good race there at the end, us five up there and I’m sure it was a good race for the fans so that was good,” Honeycutt said. “It was unfortunate I didn’t get the win there. Just feel like I’ve lost too many of them on my part so I think that’s what bothers me the most.”
Although boosted by a strong showing all day at his “home track,” the Michigan-native Carson Hocevar was clearly disappointed with his finish, explaining his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet truck had been overheating all day. He was hoping to win for the hometown crowd and especially for his mother, who is celebrating her birthday this weekend.
“Everyone did a good job,” he said, adding, “Just sucks we didn’t close it out there. Felt like I could have done a better job but don’t know what I could have done differently. Would like to see what I would have had full power.
“A lot of reasons to win here at Michigan.”
Front Row Motorsports teammates Chandler Smith and Layne Riggs rounded out the top-five – an especially valiant effort from Riggs, who went a lap down early after a pit stop issue. A winner in the previous two races, Riggs’ comeback to fifth place keeps him atop the championship standings by 26 over Honeycutt.
Bell finished sixth in the No. 62 Halmar Friesen Toyota after sweeping both stage wins and leading 37 laps – one of six race leaders on the afternoon. Fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr was seventh, followed by Connor Mosack, Jake Garcia and Tyler Ankrum.
Fan favorite Cleetus McFarland rallied from a late race spin that brought out one of seven yellow flags – and finished 25th on the lead lap in only his second series start.
After six consecutive races, the trucks go into an off-week and will return to action June 19 in the inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race at San Diego on the Naval Base Coronado (7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
LEBANON, TN – Call it victorious whiplash.
Race polesitter Denny Hamlin took the lead at the drop of the green flag – was penalized and re-set to last in the 38-car field for jumping that start – then rallied his way forward again in the ensuing 300 laps to be in front for the checkered flag of Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
After a back-and-forth among teammates on a final restart with four laps remaining – featuring a three-wide last-lap challenge for the win among three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas – Hamlin delivered the manufacturer its first victory at the 1.33-mile Nashville concrete oval, his No. 11 Toyota finishing a slight .115-second ahead of teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe.
“The 20 [Bell] and 19 [Briscoe] were battling so hard on that first corner it just let me get to the inside of the 20 at the first corner after the restart and from there, side-by-side with the 20,’’ Hamlin, 45, said describing the dramatic final laps that resulted in his 62nd career win.
“He [Bell] drove in so deep on that last lap into [turn] one that it just allowed me to barely clear off of [turn] two.
“What an unbelievable day starting first, going to last and then back to first.’’
For Bell, the close finish marked his second runner-up showing in as many weeks – simultaneously frustrating and encouraging. As with Hamlin, he recovered from an early race challenge – a pit stop miscue dropping his No 20 JGR Toyota from running among the top five to 30th place for a restart just before the finish of Stage 1.
“It was great racing, I hope the fans enjoyed that,’’ Bell said. “Just disappointed in myself, disappointed for my team. We brought a great race car and I didn’t get the job done.’’
The finish was certainly indicative of the close racing, important strategy calls and just flat-out team speed ultimately necessary to finally settle a race that featured a race record 31 lead changes among a record 15 drivers.
The race was delayed almost two hours because of weather, but when the action resumed, there was plenty of drama and intrigue.
The sold-out Nashville crowd issued a silent salute on lap eight to the late two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, 41, a beloved four-time Nashville winner (twice each in the CRAFTSMAN Trucks and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series), who passed away last week of sepsis.
In the laps thereafter, the intense action quickly settled in. Hamlin’s 57 laps out front were a race high, but nine different drivers led double digit laps. And 11 caution flags affected strategy throughout the night.
Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr finished fourth in the No. 47 Chevrolet, followed by a career-best fifth-place effort by Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen. The popular New Zealand road course ace turned in one of his best flag-to-flag oval performances running among the top 10 all night. His 12 laps led in the No. 97 Trackhouse Chevrolet were most for him on an oval track.
Reigning championship leader, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott were scored sixth and seventh but were collected in an accident just after taking the checkered flag in a hard push by the field to the finish.
Last year’s race winner, Ryan Blaney was eighth followed by Zane Smith, whose No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford was leading until 12 laps to go. Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar was 10th. Hendrick’s Kyle Larson – the reigning series champion – led 56 laps (only one lap less than Hamlin) but finished 23rd.
The race featured two first-time stage winners on the season – Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger (Stage 1) and last week’s Charlotte race winner, Spire Motorsports’ Daniel Suárez (Stage 2).
With his sixth-place finish Reddick remains atop the standings, 97 points ahead of Hamlin and 174 points up on Blaney in third place.
The series moves a few hours north to Michigan Speedway for next Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner.
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