Ryan Blaney triumphs at Pocono Raceway: NASCAR Cup results

Reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney led the final 44 laps to earn his second victory in the last five races, taking the checkered flag Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

Blaney scored his first victory of the season last month at Iowa and has finished outside the top 10 only once since.

“Things are really kind of falling into place for us,” Blaney told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “I feel like we’ve gotten to a great place on speed in the last two months.”

MORE: Pocono race results

MORE: Driver points after Pocono

Blaney’s win is his second at Pocono. He scored his first career Cup victory at this track in 2017 while racing for the Wood Brothers.

Blaney scores 'special' Cup Series win at Pocono

Ryan Blaney is victorious for the second time in 2024, saying it's "so cool" to win at the place he scored his first in the NASCAR Cup Series as momentum continues to build for the defending champion.

Denny Hamlin finished second on Sunday for his first top 10 in the last six races. Alex Bowman placed third a week after he won the Chicago Street Race to snap an 80-race winless streak. William Byron was fourth. Blaney’s teammate, Joey Logano, completed the top five.

Chase Elliott took the points lead from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson. Elliott leads Larson by three points heading into this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tyler Reddick and Hamlin are both within 20 points of Elliott.

Hamlin runner-up at Pocono after leading 31 laps

Denny Hamlin led a race-high 31 laps at Pocono Raceway but ultimately "ran out of time" to challenge Ryan Blaney for the Cup Series win, settling for second place.

The race for the final playoff spot grew tighter. Ross Chastain holds the final playoff spot but finished 36th after crashing. Bubba Wallace is the first driver outside a playoff spot. He is 27 points behind Chastain with five races left in the regular season. Wallace finished 10th and gained 18 points on Chastain.

Busch turned, slides in front of field at Pocono

Corey Lajoie gets into the back of Kyle Busch, sending the No. 8 around and into the front of the field and collecting a handful of Cup Series drivers at Pocono.

Stage 1 winner: Martin Truex Jr.

Stage 2 winner: Denny Hamlin

Who had a good race: Winner Ryan Blaney gave Team Penske its first victory at Pocono since 2011. ... Joey Logano finished fifth to earn his first top-five result at Pocono since 2016. ... Alex Bowman’s third-place finish gives him six top fives this year, the most he’s had in a season since 2021. ... Tyler Reddick scored his seventh top 10 in the last eight races with his sixth-place result.

Who had a bad race: Ross Chastain crashed and finished 36th, falling to the last playoff spot. ... Kyle Busch wrecked after contact with Corey LaJoie and finished 32nd. It is the fifth time in the last seven races Busch has failed to finish. ... Ty Gibbs started on the pole but finished 27th when his engine failed.

Notable: Chase Elliott, who finished ninth, was caught speeding on pit road. It ended his streak of 92 consecutive races without a pit road speeding penalty. Elliott took the points lead from Kyle Larson.

Next: The series returns to the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 21 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.