It took until nearly 2 a.m. early Monday morning, but in the end it was Ryan Blaney claiming the sweet taste of Georgia peaches in victory lane as the winner of the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway.
Blaney was dominant all weekend, winning the race’s pole position and leading a race-high 171 laps on the way to the win for Team Penske. That dominance, however, was not mistaken for ease when it came to Blaney’s No. 12 Ford, as he got past Carson Hocevar on an overtime restart to win a multi-car battle for the lead, beating Bubba Wallace, Hocevar, and Christopher Bell to the finish line.
“I knew Bubba was probably going to take us three-wide there when he was clear,” Blaney said. 'Overall, just a great night. To start on the pole, win both races, win the race, that’s an unbelievable weekend.”
Wallace, who originally finished second, was stripped of his runner-up finish due to NASCAR officials ruling that he went below the double-yellow line on the final lap to improve his position, relegating him to a finish of 29th. Wallace and his 23XI Racing team appealed the penalty to NASCAR, but the call still stood. It ended a frustrating night for Wallace, who rallied back after spinning off of turn four following contact with Ty Gibbs at the end of the race’s second stage.
Wallace disagreed with the penalty following Sunday’s race that placed him 13th in the overall points standings, currently 157 points ahead of a cutline to be among the top 16 drivers to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series postseason.
'I turned left because I got super loose and I just ended up there,' Wallace said. 'They say you can't go under the yellow line to improve your position, which I didn't. I was third.'
Sunday night’s event was halted on the race’s 108th lap due to heavy rain and lightning, putting things on hold for nearly three hours, restarting at around 11:40 p.m. Regardless of the time of night…or early morning in which things were contested at the track located in Hampton, drivers throughout the field took full advantage of all that the track’s surface allows, finding racing lines in the high, low, and middle grooves, resulting in 30 lead changes among ten drivers.
“I thought the racing was great the whole night,” Blaney said. “By the end of the race everyone is gripped up – they have the ability to get to the middle, the bottom, and that made it a little more chaotic.”
Gibbs and Erik Jones completed the top five with the top ten being rounded out by Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, and Chris Buescher.
