AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ryan Blaney completed a hard-earned Team Penske sweep at the famed Phoenix Raceway in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500 – recovering from multiple early race setbacks to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series trophy of the 2026 season and answer his Penske organization’s Saturday IndyCar win at the track with a spectacular and popular stock car victory a day later.
A pair of pit stop issues – including a penalty for pitting outside his box – put Blaney at the rear of the field twice early in the race, but the 2023 series champion was not to be denied, rallying back in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford and taking the lead for good with 10 laps remaining.
MORE: Race results | SHOP: Winner’s gear
Blaney’s team took tires on a final stop on a caution with 12 laps remaining and made his way forward after restarting on the second row.
He got around then race leader Ty Gibbs with 10 to go and then held off No. 54’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell, who led the most laps – 176 of 312 – but faced a huge task, moving up from an eighth-place position on the final restart as the first car to take four tires. With the fresh Goodyear rubber, Bell at least kept Blaney honest, cutting into the lead with each lap, but ultimately landed .399 seconds short.
“Just perseverance,” Blaney conceded of his afternoon. “I mean, everybody on the 12 group persevered all day. We had a couple mistakes that we learned from, got better, had to come from the back a couple times.
“Obviously, the 20 [Bell] was the best car. But Jonathan [Hassler, No. 12 crew chief] made a great call to take two [on last stop]. We were able to get the lead. Hold them off. I don’t know how many more laps I could have held them off.
“Really proud of everybody at Team Penske. We swept the weekend with [Josef] Newgarden winning yesterday (in the NTT IndyCar Series race), us winning today. Can’t wait to see Roger [Penske, team owner]. … Can’t say enough about the 12 guys for keeping their head down and doing what they do, and Jonathan again for making a good call at the end.”
Bright sun and temperatures near 90 degrees welcomed a huge crowd for Sunday’s second half of the well-received racing doubleheader weekend with both IndyCar and NASCAR marquee events. Many of the open-wheel racers stayed at the track and found spots atop team pit stands to watch the stock cars compete.
And the Penske team certainly made the most of the unique doubleheader opportunity.
MORE: Penske shows out in total domination across series at Phoenix
It marks the 32-year-old Blaney’s 18th career victory and second at Phoenix, which vaults him to second place in the championship standings – now 60 points behind 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who saw his historic three-race winning streak to start the season end with an eighth-place showing Sunday.
Reddick ran among the top 10 throughout the race but never truly challenged for the victory.
“We kind of just hovered around fifth all day,” conceded Reddick, whose 23XI Racing team co-owner Michael Jordan was again trackside in support of the organization’s record-setting 2026 season start.
“Looking at the board over here, scored the fourth most amount of points on the day,” he added. “That’s kind of what we need to keep doing all year to keep the lead that we have and try and hang on to it. Solid day. If we’re not going to win, these are the kind of days we need to have. Glad to get out of here with some points.”
Bell, the defending race winner, whose own three-race winning streak last season included this Phoenix race, was understandably disappointed to finish runner-up after leading the most laps. The upside, however, is that his No. 20 JGR team dramatically moved up from 24th in the championship standings before the race to now sixth place heading to Las Vegas next week. He and Blaney each won a stage on Sunday.
MORE: Stage 1 results | Stage 2 results
“Ultimately, if we had more green flag laps, I think we could have made a run at him,” Bell said. “I don’t know. You win some, you lose some. This one stings, but on the positive side, I’m really proud of our entire team. It’s something to build on. It was a day that we needed. We got a lot of stage points, finished second – just bummed whenever they get away like that.”
Beyond Blaney and Bell, reigning series champion Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson finished third, followed by Bell’s JGR teammates Gibbs, who now has back-to-back fourth-place finishes on the season, and Denny Hamlin.
Reddick’s teammate, Bubba Wallace, was sixth, followed by Hendrick’s William Byron, Reddick, Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell and Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones. Popular driver Shane Van Gisbergen – the series road racing ace – rallied to an 11th-place showing even after being involved in multiple incidents on the day.
The race’s 12 cautions tied the track record for yellow flags. There were eight leaders and 23 lead changes.
Anthony Alfredo, who was subbing for Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman, finished 33rd in the No. 48 Chevrolet, collected in a multi-car crash with just under than 100 laps remaining.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for next Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (4 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry is the defending race winner.
NOTE: NASCAR Cup Series post-race inspection is complete at Phoenix Raceway, confirming Ryan Blaney as the race winner. No cars are returning to the NASCAR R&D Center.
