Sunday was a big day at Pocono Raceway, where Ryan Blaney won his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.
It was a huge accomplishment for Blaney and the Wood Brothers Racing team, who were the obvious big winners at the Tricky Triangle.
The victory moves Blaney into the NASCAR playoffs and guarantees him a spot in next year’s all-star race. Plus, it should be a huge benefit for the team, which stands to gain financially from making the playoffs for the first time.
Here are 12 other winners and losers from the Pocono 400 weekend.
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Loser: Hendrick Motorsports
The best team in NASCAR saw three of its four drivers finish 35th or worse in a 39-car field — Kasey Kahne (35th), Jimmie Johnson (36th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (38th). No bueno.
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Winner: Roush Yates Engines
Kevin Harvick missed a shift and over-revved the Ford powerplant built by Roush Yates Engines. Yet it didn’t break, a testament to the job Doug Yates and his minions do in building tough engines.
© Logan Whitton LAT Images www.latphoto.co.uk Logan Whitton
Loser: Joe Gibbs Racing
Kyle Busch won Stage 1 and led the most laps in the race — again — but wound up finishing ninth, best of the four JGR drivers. The team flashed speed in practice and qualifying but the race results were disappointing.
© Russell LaBounty LAT Images www.latphoto.co.uk Russell LaBounty
Winner: Kevin Harvick
No, Harvick didn’t win at Pocono, but he scored a season’s-best runner-up finish to winner Ryan Blaney. And for the seventh time in the last eight races, Harvick finished ninth or better.
Loser: Jamie McMurray
Almost lost in the aftermath of Jimmie Johnson’s violent crash was the fact that McMurray crashed virtually right behind him, and then had his Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet burst into flames.
Winner: Brad Keselowski
Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski Racing driver Chase Briscoe came within inches of winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Saturday at Pocono, Keselowski won the NASCAR XFINITY Series race, following it up with a solid top five in the Cup race. And afterward, Keselowski showed off his skills as a pit reporter by interviewing race-winner Ryan Blaney.
© Matthew T. Thacker LAT Images www.latphoto.co.uk Matthew T. Thacker
Loser: Joey Logano
In the first nine races of the year, Logano posted one (encumbered) victory, six top fives and eight top 10s. After finishing 22nd at Pocono, Logano has now failed to finish in the top 20 in each of the last five races. Right now, he’s on the playoff bubble.
© Matthew T. Thacker LAT Images www.latphoto.co.uk Matthew T. Thacker
Winner: Pocono Raceway
Last year, both Pocono Cup races were rained out and had to be run on Monday, as did the track’s IndyCar race. This time around, it was chamber of commerce weather, with beautiful blue skies for most of the weekend.
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Winner: Erik Jones
A career-best third-place finish for Jones was better than his Furniture Row Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr., who finished sixth, and all four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. Jones had the best finish of any of the Toyota drivers.
© Lesley Ann Miller LAT Images www.latphoto.co.uk Lesley Ann Miller
Loser: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
After decent runs at Charlotte and Dover, Earnhardt missed shifts twice, once in practice on Friday and the second time in the race on Sunday. Both times, the result was a catastrophic engine failure.
© Matthew T. Thacker LAT Images www.latphoto.co.uk Matthew T. Thacker
Winner: Bubba Wallace
Yes, Wallace made a couple of rookie mistakes, and, yes, he finished 26th. But he completed the race and gained valuable experience behind the wheel of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. He will get better.
Matthew OHaren Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports
Winner: Ford Motor Co.
Brad Keselowski won Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race in his Team Penske Ford Mustang, while Ryan Blaney won the Cup race, as Ford drivers took four of the top five finishing spots on Sunday. That’s about as good a weekend as they could have had.
© Rusty Jarrett LAT Images www.latphoto.co.uk Rusty Jarrett
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