NASCAR USA Today 301 winners and losers as Ryan | Sports News

Ryan Blaney turned the primary NASCAR Cup Series playoff driver to e book his place within the Round of 8 after profitable the USA Today 3001 at Loudon. The Team Penske driver is on the hunt to reclaim the Cup Series championship after dropping final 12 months to teammate Joey Logano in Phoenix, Arizona.

“Nice guy” Blaney received after ranging from second place behind Logano, who seized pole after “flying” in secret tire testing in New Hampshire earlier this 12 months whereas testing new compounds. Logano led for 147 of the 301 laps however slipped to fourth as 2023 champ Blaney took the chequered flag to conclude a caution-filled occasion.

There have been eight cautions in complete, protecting 45 laps, with a wreck between Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs probably the most notable in lap 110. Hamlin, a playoff rival of Blaney’s, spun his teammate Gibbs into the wall following an earlier incident in Stage 2. Gibbs was proven defending laborious towards playoff drivers, together with Hamlin and different teammate, Christopher Bell. After leaning into Bell’s car and trading contact, Ty was heard on the radio saying, “I won’t take any more crap from my teammate.”

“Does Ty know we’re going for a championship? What the hell? Are they afraid to talk to him? That’s what I feel like. They’re scared of him,” Hamlin mentioned earlier than taking issues into his own palms and nudging Gibbs into the wall. The Hall of Fame proprietor and patriarch of the Gibbs empire, Joe Gibbs, elected to not unleash fury at Hamlin for taking out his grandson.

Instead, Gibbs mentioned he would go away it up to his drivers to settle the feud. “I think these guys are the ones driving the cars, and so those guys will get together on their own and figure it out,” he advised reporters.

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WINNERS

Ryan Blaney

The 31-year-old has already booked his place within the subsequent stage of the playoffs. But after final 12 months’s Championship 4 disappointment, Blaney will not carry his foot off the fuel.

Joey Logano

The defending champion began the weekend beneath the cut line within the Round of 12. Pole place adopted by a Stage 2 win and a fourth-place end has positioned Logano properly to keep away from being KO’d early in his hunt to stay champ.

Team Penske

Team Penske received their fifth NASCAR race of the 2025 season. However, the common season wasn’t a comfortable searching ground for the staff, with Joe Gibbs Racing profitable 11 races so far. New Hampshire was tipped to be a good observe for Team Penske over the weekend, and they took pole via Logano and received all three levels.

DON’T MISS

LOSERS

Joe Gibbs Racing

The staff has largely dominated the Cup Series this 12 months. They’ve received 11 Cup races, with 5 coming from Hamlin, 4 from Bell, and two from Chase Briscoe. However, the interior combating might threaten to derail their title charge, with Gibbs unlikely to neglect Hamlin’s unapologetic wreck.

23XI Racing

Michael Jordan and Hamlin’s Cup outfit has seen a downturn in kind when evaluating 2024 to 2025. They’ve received only one race all season, Bubba Wallace on the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis. Last season’s regular-season champ, Tyler Reddick, has but to style victory. Wallace and Reddick now sit beneath the cut line, leaving 23XI dealing with a double playoff KO within the coming weeks.

Kyle Busch

The two-time champion hasn’t received since Illinois in 2023 and has missed the playoffs for 2 consecutive Cup seasons. Kyle Busch will proceed at Richard Childress Racing in 2026, however the NASCAR icon continues to be shot of confidence. Another low end in thirtieth.