Ryan Blaney Secures Playoff Spot with Win at Nashville Superspeedway
Ryan Blaney has successfully locked in Team Penske’s place in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, leading an impressive 139 of 300 laps and cruising to victory at Nashville Superspeedway. Carson Hocevar finished in second place, followed by Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and William Byron. 777 jili slot Rounding out the top 10 were Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell.
Cup Results and Points After Nashville
With this win, Blaney becomes the ninth driver to clinch a victory in the 2025 season. He joins Joey Logano (Texas) and Austin Cindric (Talladega) as winners who have secured spots in the 10-race NASCAR championship series. Additionally, Josh Berry has also emerged victorious in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, which has a technical alliance with Team Penske. Blaney’s victory marks his place among the 16 drivers qualified for the playoffs after bouncing back from a disappointing 38th place finish in the Coca-Cola 600, where he had suffered three other finishes of 28th or worse this year.
“I never gave up hope, that’s for sure,” Blaney shared with Prime’s Marty Snider. “We’ve had great speed all year, it just hasn’t really been the best year for us regarding luck. The team is fantastic; they always stick together, no matter how things go, and it feels great to finally get one now.”
Post-Race Reactions from Nashville
Hocevar’s second-place finish tied his career-best performance, previously recorded in February at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “It just shows the strength of this team to bounce back from last week’s disappointment after a tough qualifying draw,” Hocevar said, reflecting on the challenges they faced. duterte png “I’m proud of this group. Our average with this car has been 38th, so this is a significant improvement.” The 300-lap race concluded with a green flag run of 102 laps after seven caution flags were displayed in the first 198 laps. Blaney, who won Stage 2, led 111 of the last 132 laps in his No. 12 Ford.
A series of caution laps in Stage 2 was ignited when Hocevar tapped Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s left rear, sending him into the Turn 4 wall on Lap 106. Stenhouse, currently near the playoff cutline, finished last after completing 110 laps what is double down in blackjack. “A lap or two earlier, he tried to dive in from about 10 car lengths back,” Stenhouse explained. “That time, I just widened my entry a bit, and he misjudged the corner and crashed into us. While it’s not out of the norm for him, I didn’t expect that at that moment in the race.”
After the race, Hocevar downplayed Stenhouse’s frustrations. “I’ve seen others make similar moves and get wrecked editorial cartoon about rice tariffication law. I thought he was the target this time,” Hocevar said. “That felt like a common move given my speed, but I didn’t notice it at the time. I’m sure he’ll want to discuss it; we can go over the replay together.”
On the Lap 112 restart, Noah Gragson and Alex Bowman sustained significant damage in an incident that also involved Kyle Larson. The race resumed on Lap 119 but quickly saw the yellow flag again after Christopher Bell lost control of his No. 20 Toyota, colliding multiple times with Erik Jones’ No. 43 Toyota. During the Lap 124 restart, Larson (loose wheel) and Tyler Reddick (flat tire) made unscheduled pit stops, and another caution was called when Corey Heim hit the wall in Turn 4 after misjudging his exit, colliding with Brad Keselowski.
Stage 1 winner: Denny Hamlin
Stage 2 winner: Ryan Blaney
Next up: Sunday, June 8, at 2 p.m . ET at Michigan International Speedway, live on Prime.
What are your thoughts on Blaney’s performance and the team’s strategy heading into the playoffs?
