Wood Brothers Racing driver Ryan Blaney scored his maiden NASCAR Cup victory at Pocono after beating Kevin Harvick.
The gap between Blaney and Harvick was just 0.139 seconds at the finish line, scoring the team’s first win since Trevor Bayne’s Daytona 500 triumph.
Battling a radio issue throughout the race, Blaney moved into the lead with nine laps to go, taking over from polesitter Kyle Busch – who had been in control, until a late caution.
Most of the field, including Blaney, pitted and the race resumed with 13 laps remaining. Stage one winner Busch was on older tyres and lost the lead on the restart.
Harvick passed Busch one lap later and challenged Blaney right to the end, but couldn’t find a way through. Erik Jones took third place, with Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski next up.
Martin Truex Jr was sixth to retain the points lead and Kyle Larson, who won the second stage, finishing seventh. Chase Elliott was eighth and Busch, who led 101 of the 160 laps, slipped to ninth.
Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace made his Cup debut in place of the injured Aric Almirola but a troubled race, including drive-through and stop/go penalties for pitlane speeding, meant he finished 26th.
Dale Earnhardt Jr was an early retirement with transmission issues, something Harvick briefly struggled with too, while Jimmie Johnson crashed to bring out the first caution – followed into the wall by Jamie McMurray.
