Ryan Blaney wins in Phoenix, holding off Bell

Ryan Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion on the same track, wins in Phoenix to put an end to Tyler Reddick's dominance at the start of this season.

Published 09/03/2026 à 08:00

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Ryan Blaney wins in Phoenix, holding off Bell

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Like Christopher Bell last year and so many others before them, up to Jimmie Johnson in 2007, the last to achieve this feat, Tyler Reddick failed to win for the fourth consecutive race in NASCAR Cup Series. The driver of the Toyota No. 45 of 23XI Racing finished eighth and continues to dominate the championship.

The two frontrunners, Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Ryan Blaney (Team Penske), battled for the win at the end of the race, after a final pit stop under the safety car with less than twenty laps to go. Blaney opted to take only two tires, while Bell changed all four tires on his Toyota.

Like his teammate Denny Hamlin last November on this same track, Bell needed to work his way through the field, but he had more laps to do so. After taking some time to pass Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports), Bell was able to close the gap on leader Blaney in the final six laps, but the 2023 Cup Series champion held on to secure his first victory of the season.

At the same time, this allowed Team Penske to win two of the three races of the weekend, following Josef Newgarden's victory in IndyCar Saturday. "I am really proud of all the members of Team Penske."Blaney indicated. “We dominated the weekend with [Josef] Newgarden’s win yesterday and our victory today. I’m looking forward to seeing Roger [Penske, team owner]. … I can’t thank the 12 guys enough for keeping their heads down and doing their job, as well as Jonathan (Hassler, his chief mechanic) who once again made the right decision at the end.”

A decisive action was needed to thwart Christopher Bell's plans, who had led 176 of the 312 laps. This was achieved by changing both tires on the right side. “Clearly, car number 20 was the best car. But Jonathan made an excellent decision by taking two tires. We managed to take the lead. To keep them at bay. I don't know how many more laps I could have kept them at bay.”