BLANEY TAKES HOME 1st CHARLOTTE WIN!
CHARLOTTE, NC, May 30, 2017 – Ryan Blaney won his first 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the second for the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang this year. In partnership with Ford Performance, Roush Yates Engines provided the Ford FR9 horsepower that powered the No. 12 to victory lane in the Hisense 300.
“Congratulations Ryan on a fantastic race,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “It was incredible to see the Fords battling for the win at the end and to achieve our fourth Xfinity win this year with Ford Performance is a great feeling.”
From the start of the race Blaney leveraged the horsepower of the Ford FR9 engine to move up through the field, from the rear to fourth place during the first segment of the race, where Ford teammate No. 4 Kevin Harvick from Stewart Haas Racing took the first stage win. The No.12 continued to battle hard to take the second stage win.
The Ford Mustangs led a combined 168 laps in the Hisense 300 and it all came down to a battle among Ford teammates No. 4 Harvick, No. 22 Brad Keselowski and No. 12 Blaney. With three laps remaining in the 200 lap race, race leader, Harvick chose the outside lane, which put Keselowski behind him and the hard charging Blaney beside him on the inside. Blaney was able to stay close to Harvick at the restart and ultimately pass the No. 4 with two laps to go and took the checkered flag .244 seconds ahead of the Harvick, for his fifth career Xfinity win.
“We were getting really good restarts all day once we finally got the pace picked up like it should be, and we were able to shove Kevin in front there and get to second, and just gave us a shot and an opportunity to get by him at the end there on the last restart. Props to everybody at the Penske group,” mentioned Blaney in a post-race interview. “To win at a track where my father did is pretty cool.”
It was a strong finish for Ford Performance with four Ford Mustangs finishing in the Top-10.
Finishing Order:
1st – Ryan Blaney | Team Penske
2nd – Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing
6th – Brad Keselowski | Team Penske
7th – Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing