NASCAR Monday Mash-Up: Ryan Blaney figures out Tricky Pocono
A trip up to Pennsylvania proved fruitful for Ryan Blaney. But Pocono was far too tricky for many of the NASCAR drivers. The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion picked up his second win of the season, and there was a lot of other action this weekend as well.
A tripleheader weekend with Truck, Xfinity, and Cup Series action. Pocono Raceway was full of fans and they were rewarded with three entertaining races. The Cup race ended up being sold out for the second straight year.
There were some issues surrounding Sunday. Throughout the weekend, rain came in and out and threatened to mess with races. Let’s get into what happened this weekend and then turn our attention towards Indianapolis.
Rain messes with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
The one series that was hindered most by rain was the Craftsman Truck Series. Qualifying was canceled early in the day on Friday due to the weather.
The rain then returned during the race. It was right before the end of the race, less than 10 laps to go. Corey Heim was leading after dominating all day and the red flag was brought out.
Corey Heim wins fifth race of the NASCAR season
Even with the delay, Corey Heim was able to get back out there and earn his fifth win of the season. Heim has been having a fantastic season in the trucks and looks like the one to beat for the championship this year.
Heim swept the stages and was excellent in his execution. The Tricon driver looks poised to go Cup racing in 2025.
Hailie Deegan seen at Indy NXT
An interesting note form the IndyCar events this weekend at Iowa Speedway – Hailie Deegan was hanging around the NXT teams. Could we see her make a move to that series?
After losing her Xfinity Series ride, is Deegan making a move outside of NASCAR? She will be doing a Trans-Am race coming up soon.
Sheldon Creed wins NASCAR Xfinity Series pole
This Xfinity Series Saturday got started with some excitement. Sheldon Creed was on the pole and that meant he could be vying for his first-ever Xfinity win.
However, Creed did not have the speed in the race to back it up. Creed is still searching for that first checkered flag.
Sam Mayer runs over SVG
As the race neared the end, Sam Mayer made a terrible mistake. He overdrove straight into the back bumper of Shane van Gisbergen.
SVG was working on finishing up a top-10 performance when he was knocked around by Mayer. To his credit, Mayer said it was a mistake. SVG didn’t seem too upset, either.
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Cole Custer wins over Justin Allgaier in NASCAR Xfinity Series
In the end, Cole Custer was the big winner. He won a stage and traded the lead with Justin Allgaier throughout the afternoon. Rain started to move in during the race but stayed away.
Custer won his first race of the season as well as the first win for Ford in the series this year, too. A big weekend for the blue ovals.
Kyle Busch is still having issues at RCR
How about this? Another week, and another batch of issues. Kyle Busch had steering problems from the jump and things only got worse.
Busch’s car was leaking oil on the grid prerace. They had to work with two other crews, one from Trackhouse and one from Hendrick, to get the car ready to go by the green flag.
Corey LaJoie gives Busch another headache
As if that wasn’t bad enough for Busch. Corey LaJoie sent him around and gave him his fifth DNF in seven races. Yeah, you read that right.
Rowdy is in a pit right now and rock bottom still won’t come up. LaJoie was also fairly defiant in his decision to run into the back of the 8 car.
Ryan Blaney comes out on top of Tricky Triangle
For the first time since his first-career Cup Series victory, Ryan Blaney takes the checkered flag at Pocono. Blaney was able to come out with the best track position late and took advantage.
Pit road speeding penalties late in the race to Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott made it a lot easier on Blaney. He didn’t let this race slip through his fingers.