Ryan Blaney rallies late to claim second straight win at Phoenix Raceway
Column By: STAFF REPORT / NASCAR MEDIA – AVONDALE, AZ – Ryan Blaney seized control late and held off a hard-charging and dominant Christopher Bell to win Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Bell entered the final stage as the driver to beat, fending off challenges from Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney on multiple restarts. The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota continued to control the pace through a caution-filled stretch of the race, building a lead of more than two seconds with just over 30 laps remaining.
The complexion of the race changed with a series of late cautions. Contact between AJ Allmendinger and Logano on Lap 254 triggered a multi-car crash that collected Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Chase Elliott, Josh Berry and Shane van Gisbergen, bunching the field for another restart. Bell maintained the lead when the race went green again, but another caution followed when Dillon’s right-rear tire went down in Turn 2 on Lap 287.
The late yellow set up a dramatic sprint to the finish. Ty Gibbs surged to the lead from the outside lane on the restart with 18 laps remaining, but a crash on the backstretch moments later involving John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Zane Smith forced another caution.
On the ensuing restart with 11 laps to go, Gibbs again cleared the field to lead, but Blaney quickly moved into position behind him. The Team Penske driver stalked the No. 54 Toyota before making his move with nine laps remaining, diving underneath Gibbs entering Turn 1 and completing the pass on the backstretch.
Blaney gradually pulled away over the closing laps while Bell reclaimed second place and trimmed the margin, but the No. 20 Toyota ran out of time as the No. 12 Ford secured the victory. Bell finished second, 0.399 seconds behind, while Kyle Larson completed the podium in third.
