Blaney looking for another win at Pocono – Scranton Times-Tribune

Pocono Raceway will always hold special meaning for Ryan Blaney.

It was the site of Blaney’s first NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2017. And then he won again there last year.

“I love the area, I love the race track. That place means a lot to me,” Blaney said in a telephone interview. “Places where you have your first win, success, stuff like that, they always mean a little more. So I look forward to getting back there.”

That happens this weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Pocono for The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA.COM. It is part of a tripleheader at the 2.5-mile triangular track in Long Pond that includes the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Miller Tech Battery 200 on Friday and the NASCAR Xfinity Series Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 on Saturday.

Last year, Blaney started eighth in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, used pit strategy to gain track position and led the final 44 laps to take the checkered flag.

“We had great speed all weekend and our strategy was incredibly good to where we could just focus on how do we get to the front, how do we stay there,” Blaney said. “We did a great job of that. That part is always super important. We just hit it right and hopefully we can hit it right again.”

Besides the two wins, Blaney also has one pole, a fifth-place finish, two sixths and two 10ths in 15 Pocono starts. He ran two Truck Series races there as well with a win in 2013 and a fifth-place in 2014.

With its three different corners, Pocono presents a unique challenge to drivers. Blaney said you are not going to be fantastic in all three, so it’s a choice of where you want to be your best.

He puts his focus on Turns 1 and 3.

“I want to be really good (there) and then I’ll just kind of deal with the tunnel (turn),” Blaney said. “Everyone’s a little different, but those two corners are most important because they lead to some really good passing zones.

“It’s hard to be good in (Turns) 1 and 3 . (Turn) 1 is pretty banked and a little sharper than Turn 3. Turn 3 is long, flat, got a gradual corner. Turn 3 has always been No. 1 important to me, then Turn 1 is second-most important and then the tunnel (turn) third. With that long front straightaway, you need to be good off that corner because it can really bite you if you struggle over there to be able to pass or maintain a position if you’re battling somebody.”

Restarts at Pocono also are key. The front straightaway is the longest in NASCAR at 3,740 feet and is 60 to 100 feet wide. On restarts, drivers will fan out four-, five-, even six-wide, then have to quickly funnel in line heading into turn 1.

“When you have a lot of room, guys just try to find the best way to try to navigate through there and get the clean air or the best position possible,” Blaney said. “The restarts are always important. You’d better make sure you’re on the offensive. If you’re on the defensive, you’re kind of going backwards. So it’s a lot of timing your runs on the restarts. And then, do you try to push somebody? Do you try to get somebody behind you to push you? It just kind of all depends. But they get pretty wild and you hope you’re going forward and not get swallowed up.”

This season has been up and down for Blaney. He ranks fourth in laps led with 346, but has endured crashes and engine failures that led to five finishes of 32nd or worse. He does have a victory — three weeks ago at Nashville — along with six top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 16 races.

“Some of the finishes that we’ve not been able to get definitely stink,” Blaney said. “But that’s just kind of the way it goes. You focus on the positives and the positives are we’ve been really fast. That’s the toughest thing to find – the speed in the car. Hopefully it smooths out for us. It was nice to get that win at Nashville. It’s been a rocky year, but I feel really good about it because our speed is there. Hopefully we can keep that through the year and when the playoffs start.”

Practice and qualifying for The Great American Getaway 400 is Saturday. The 160-lap race gets the green flag Sunday at 2 p.m. It will be televised on Amazon Prime.

NASCAR AT POCONO SCHEDULE

Friday: Craftsman Truck Series practice, 12:35-1:30 p.m.; qualifying, 1:40-2:30 p.m.; Miller Tech Battery 200, 5 p.m.

Saturday: Xfinity Series practice, 10-10:55 a.m.; Xfinity qualifying, 11:05 a.m.-noon; Cup Series practice, 12:35-1:35 p.m.; Cup qualifying, 1:45-2:30 p.m.; Xfinity Explore the Pocono Mountains 250, 3:30 p.m.

Sunday: Cup Series, The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA.COM, 2 p.m.

Originally Published: June 20, 2025 at 12:00 AM EDT