How did he manage to hold off the hard-charging Harvick?
“Just not mess up,” Blaney said. “He was a little bit better than us all day and then we obviously had clean air, which is king at a lot of places, especially here, and he was able to get to us but not get a run on us. We kind of stalled him out and I just had to hit our marks and not mess up. That was the biggest thing was to hold the line. If I could do that, I knew I had a good shot at holding him off. That’s what kind of went through my mind.”
The win clinches a berth in the 2017 NASCAR Playoffs for Blaney, who started the weekend 13thin the driver standings.
“I think it exceeds the dream a little bit,” Blaney said of his first Cup victory. “I grew up watching my dad race on this race track and it’s so cool to get the Wood Brothers in Victory Lane, number one, and to do it here at a race track that is really close to Ohio – a home to me – is pretty awesome.”
The win is the third for Motorcraft during its long association with the Wood Brothers.
“All of us at Ford Customer Service Division congratulate Ryan on his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory today at Pocono,” said Brett Wheatley, executive director of North America, Ford Customer Service Division. “We couldn’t be more excited that this milestone moment in his career came while behind the wheel of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane.
“We’ve known for a long time that Ryan is a NASCAR star on the rise and we’re sure this is the first of many trips to Victory Circle that Ryan will make during a long and successful career,” Wheatley continued. “We also congratulate Wood Brothers Racing on its 99thcareer victory. Our association with NASCAR’s most historic team has been fruitful both on and off the track and we look forward to celebrating many more wins in the future.”
Also celebrating Blaney’s win at Pocono are the fans who were in attendance at Sharon Speedway in Ohio last night. As part of its sponsorship of the dirt track’s Fan Appreciation Night, Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing offered fans a free “The Works” oil change package at participating Ford or Lincoln dealership or Quick Lane Tire and Auto Center should Blaney win today in Pocono.
The next stop on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit is Michigan International Speedway the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, June 18, at 3 p.m. on FS1. Ford’s newest, all-makes, all-models parts brand, Omnicraft, will be the primary sponsor at MIS.
-- Press release courtesy of Wood Brothers Racing
