Ryan Blaney wins Round of 12 Playoff opener at New Hampshire
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
LOUDON, N.H.—Team Penske Fords were fast in practice, fast in qualifying and fastest in the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when it counted Sunday afternoon with Ryan Blaney taking a .937-second victory over fellow Ford driver Josh Berry in the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs’ Round of 12.
It marked a distinct competitive turn in this year’s championship with three Fords finishing among the top-five and three Chevrolets among the top-eight at the one-mile New Hampshire track after a Toyota sweep of the Playoffs’ opening three-race round.
Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford – which started on the outside of the front row – led 116 of the race’s 301 laps including the final 39 laps holding off the Wood Brothers Racing driver Berry, who had rallied back in his No. 21 Ford after a spin on Lap 21.
“Probably the hardest 20 laps I drove,” Blaney, 31, said of the race’s closing laps. “Was trying to bide my stuff and he [Berry] really started coming. He started to get super free and it was all I could do to hold him off. It was good racing. Clean racing and I appreciate Josh not throwing me the bumper when he could have.”
Blaney’s victory cashes the popular 2023 series champion’s ticket into the Round of 8 in pursuit of his second NASCAR Cup Series title. Important both Sunday and likely further in the Playoffs as the season’s three-race winner can expect fierce competition from his Penske teammate, three-time and reigning series champ Joey Logano as the Playoffs intensify.
The two were quickest throughout preparation for Sunday’s race and maintained that edge throughout the day – combining to lead 263 of the 301 laps.
The pole-winner Logano led the most laps (147) and finished fourth. He crossed the line just behind another Playoff-eligible driver, Hendrick Motorsports William Byron, whose teammate Chase Elliott turned in an inspiring comeback performance with a fifth-place showing after a 27th-place starting position.
“We ran well, we just weren’t the fastest car,” Logano said. “The 12 [Blaney] was fastest in practice and he showed that again in the race. Our only chance to beat him was on pit road and beat him on details. But they were able to make up their track position when they put four [tires] on. That last restart I could have started behind him and finished third in the race, but if I was behind the 12 [Blaney] I wasn’t going to win.”
It perhaps marked a significant turn in competition – early in this round, at least – with the top Toyota driver, the race’s defending winner Christopher Bell leading that manufacturer with a sixth-place finish Sunday. He won just a week ago capping a three-race Toyota winning sweep in the opening Playoff series.
Playoff driver, Hendrick’s Kyle Larson was seventh, followed by Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell and Playoff drivers Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing) and Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing).
JGR’s veteran driver Denny Hamlin, who ran top-10 most of the day, and was involved in an incident with his teammate Ty Gibbs mid-race, dropped from the championship lead coming into New Hampshire to now fifth place in the points with a 12th place run. The season’s five-race winner had no comment, however, about the contact with Gibbs that put the young third-year driver into the wall and out of the race while they both raced among the top-10.
Blaney’s victory – the 16th of his career – automatically moves him into the next round of the Playoffs. Byron is now second in the standings, 47 points above the cutoff line. Larson is 41 points up and Bell is 29 points to the good.
“The Penske cars were super-fast, kind of in another zip code,” said Byron, who’s third-place finish marks his first career top-10 showing in eight New Hampshire races.
“If we can just build on this, all our short tracks are coming together,” said Byron. “It’s no breathing room because you have to go out there and execute every week and keep your foot on the gas in this deal. But hopefully we can go to Kansas and be up front contending for a win.
“…Definitely wasn’t expecting to be this strong here, so hopefully we can to Kansas and be really good.’’
Hamlin is now fifth in the standings with a 24-point cushion on the elimination line, followed by Logano (plus-24), Elliott (plus-14), and Briscoe who holds a 12-point advantage over Chastain for the eighth and final Playoff position to advance following the Kansas race next week and the Charlotte ROVAL race in two weeks.
Team Penske’s Austin Cindric (minus-19) and 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick (minus-23) and Bubba Wallace (minus-23) are also below the Playoff line heading to Kansas. Cindric finished 17th Sunday, Reddick was 21st and Wallace was 26th.
The Cup Series moves to the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Chastain is the defending race winner.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 30
Race Results for the Mobil 1 301 - Sunday, September 21, 2025
New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Loudon, NH - 1.058 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 301 Laps - 318.458 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 9/21/2025 @ 05:23 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Libman Ford 301 1 4 57 Running 4 116 6
2 3 21 Josh Berry Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 301 4 10 43 Running 2 10
3 5 24 William Byron (P) Raptor Chevrolet 301 3 3 50 Running
4 1 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 301 2 1 52 Running 4 147 1
5 27 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 301 7 36 Running 1 3
6 19 20 Christopher Bell (P) Rheem Toyota 301 6 36 Running
7 16 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 301 6 2 44 Running 1 4
8 11 71 Michael McDowell Gainbridge Chevrolet 301 10 30 Running
9 8 1 Ross Chastain (P) Kubota Chevrolet 301 28 Running
10 18 19 Chase Briscoe (P) Bass Pro Shops Toyota 301 9 29 Running 1 19
11 6 77 Carson Hocevar Delaware Life Chevrolet 301 5 5 39 Running
12 9 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Progressive Toyota 301 8 28 Running
13 28 3 Austin Dillon Toys for Tots Chevrolet 301 24 Running
14 23 60 Ryan Preece Mohawk Northeast Inc. Ford 301 23 Running
15 7 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 301 8 25 Running
16 33 4 * Noah Gragson Farm Rich Ford 301 21 Running
17 22 2 Austin Cindric (P) Autotrader Ford 301 20 Running
18 15 17 Chris Buescher Kroger Health/Flublok Ford 301 19 Running
19 36 34 * Todd Gilliland Grillo's Pickles Ford 301 18 Running
20 12 16 AJ Allmendinger Campers Inn RV Chevrolet 301 17 Running
21 4 45 * Tyler Reddick (P) SiriusXM Toyota 301 9 18 Running
22 25 35 * Riley Herbst # BeatBox Toyota 301 15 Running
23 17 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 301 14 Running
24 31 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 301 13 Running
25 34 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 300 12 Running
26 14 23 * Bubba Wallace (P) McDonald's Toyota 300 11 Running
27 20 38 * Zane Smith Long John Silver's Ford 300 10 Running
28 26 43 Erik Jones Family Dollar Toyota 300 9 Running
29 30 10 Ty Dillon Sea Best/BJ's Wholesale Club Chevrolet 300 8 Running
30 24 8 Kyle Busch Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet 297 7 Running
31 35 51 Cody Ware Parts Plus Ford 296 6 Running 2 2
32 10 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevrolet 250 7 9 Running
33 21 7 Justin Haley NationsGuard Chevrolet 207 4 Running
34 29 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 146 3 Accident
35 13 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 134 2 Accident
36 32 99 Daniel Suarez Choice Privileges Chevrolet 117 1 Accident
Fastest Lap Bonus: # 77 lap 237 / 29.923
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 7 Mins, 53 Secs. Average Speed: 101.699 MPH Margin of Victory: .937 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 12, 22, 24, 21, 77, 5, 88, 48, 45, 71
Stage 2 Top 10: 22, 5, 24, 12, 77, 20, 9, 11, 19, 21
Race Comments: Ryan Blaney has won the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his 16th victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, no vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 8 for 45 laps; Laps: 64-69 (#3, 51 Incident Turn 3 [60]); 72-77 (Stage 1 Conclusion [51]); 83-87 (#21, 88 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 111-117 (#11, 54
Incident Turn 2 [None]); 119-123 (#88, 6, 99, 8, 20, 7, 2, 21 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 149-153 (#42 Incident Turn 3 [6]); 187-192 (Stage 2 Conclusion [8]); 255-259 (#3, 51 Incident Turn 2 [16]).
Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers; J. Logano (P) 1-52; R. Blaney (P) 53-113; C. Ware 114; C. Briscoe (P) 115-133; K. Larson (P) 134-137; J. Logano (P) 138-188; C. Ware 189; J. Logano (P) 190-227; R. Blaney (P) 228-231; J. Logano (P) 232-237; J. Berry 238-240; C. Elliott (P) 241-243; R. Blaney (P) 244-255; J. Berry 256-262; R. Blaney (P) 263-301.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: September 28, 2025 - Kansas Speedway
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CURRENT NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFF STANDINGS
POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/-
1 12 Ryan Blaney Ford ROUND OF 12 PLAYOFF WIN - 3 TOTAL WNS
2 24 William Byron Chevrolet +47 2 TOTAL WINS
3 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet +41 3 TOTAL WINS
4 20 Christopher Bell Toyota +29 1 PLAYOFF WIN - 4 TOTAL POINTS WIN PLUS ALL-STAR WIN
5 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota +27 1 PLAYOFF WIN - 5 TOTAL WINS
6 22 Joey Logano Ford +24 1 TOTAL WIN
7 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet +14 1 POINTS WIN PLUS BUSCH LITE CLASH WIN
8 19 Chase Briscoe Toyota +12 2 TOTAL WINS
CUTOFF LINE - FOUR DRIVERS ELIMINATED AFTER CHARLOTTE (OCT. 5)
9 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet -12 1 TOTAL WIN
10 2 Austin Cindric Ford -19 1 TOTAL WIN
11 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota -23
12 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota -27 1 TOTAL WIN
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