On a day the place destiny did all the pieces in its energy to maintain Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Workforce Penske crew out of victory lane, Blaney took the lead from Ty Gibbs late in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Sequence Straight Speak Wi-fi 500 at Phoenix Raceway and held off Christopher Bell to attain his first win of 2026 and the 18th of his Cup Sequence profession.
Gibbs led Kyle Larson after the ultimate warning flag got here out with 19 laps to go, however Blaney handed Gibbs and held off a hard-charging Bell within the closing laps regardless of Bell’s tire benefit.
Bell swept the levels on Sunday however got here up one spot shy of a 3rd straight win within the Phoenix spring race.
Blaney had two unfastened wheels, a number of sluggish pit stops and a number of poor restarts all through Sunday’s race, however handed a complete of 49 automobiles and overcame all adversity to say the checkered flag.
“Simply perseverance,” Blaney informed Fox Sports activities. “Everyone on the 12 group persevered all day. We had a pair errors that we realized from and obtained higher. Got here from the again a few occasions. Actually, the 20 was the perfect automotive. [Crew chief] Jonathan [Hassler] made an excellent name.”
Notable outcomes
Bell, Larson, Gibbs and Denny Hamlin rounded out the highest 5, with Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell and Erik Jones finishing the highest 10.
Different notable finishers embody Shane van Gisbergen in eleventh, Brad Keselowski in fifteenth, Kyle Busch in seventeenth, Carson Hocevar in twentieth and Chase Elliott in twenty third.
Polesitter Joey Logano completed thirty first after a late crash.
