NASCAR
Ryan Blaney Tames the Draft in Atlanta with Three-Wide Triumph
HAMPTON, Ga. – Pole, stages swept, most laps led, and winning by a hair was Ryan Blaney’s day at EchoPark Speedway. With the checkers falling at almost 2 a.m. Monday morning, Blaney gave fans another nail-biter in the draft. The Body Armor No. 12 Ford was only ahead by six hundredths in a three-wide photo finish, taking its second win of 2026. Not far back of the points lead, can Blaney be mounting a late summer surge to the top?
From the pole, Ryan Blaney led every lap of Stage 1, but Tyler Reddick was the hard charger. The opening 60 laps saw the No. 45 go from 31st to 2nd-place, trying to defend his spring Atlanta win. Stage 2 was split by a three-plus hour rain delay, but saw the same result with the 12 winning.
No on-track issue halted the action until almost lap 200, showing nearly 300 miles of flawless drafting. Kyle Larson and a few others spinning late would send this race into overtime, but with Carson Hocevar out front.
There’s trouble on the backstretch, and multiple cars are involved! pic.twitter.com/gEGY6cxsSy
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 13, 2026
The No. 77 Chevrolet held the lead at the white flag, but got too far ahead. Hocevar was soon flanked by Blaney and Bubba Wallace, with this trio staying three-wide across the finish. Blaney ultimately got the slight edge thanks to a push from Christopher Bell, proving to just be enough to win. Wallace, meanwhile, would be penalized for passing below the yellow line and sent back to 29th-place at the finish.
WHAT A FINISH IN ATLANTA!! pic.twitter.com/KpYKIe4bzo
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 13, 2026
“It was pretty wild,” Blaney said. “Second, I just took the front row, see who got behind me and they gave me really good shoves. On the restart we got hooked up really good. And then gosh, Bubba [Wallace] and I got a huge run down the front straightaway. I was able to get to the outside of Carson [Hocevar], clear him, and then Bubba went three-wide bottom down the back. Lined up for a really cool finish at the line. I really got to shout out Christopher Bell, for being right on my bumper all the way through [turns] three and four and an epic push. He was why we won the race, so I appreciate that. It’s past my bedtime, but not for y’all fans!”
“It was definitely, honestly, a pretty awesome night. I mean, having a really fast car and sitting on the pole, winning both stages and leading a ton of laps and just in a position to win the race. You never know how these things are gonna end, honestly. There are a couple of things I probably could have done better, but we were able to stick around and just how the last couple laps played out we were able to get the lead back and just barely hold on. It’s a pretty cool day when you have weekends like that. You can’t ask for a better weekend – sit on the pole, sweeps the stages, win the race. That’s a dream weekend right there. These guys are great. They brought a rocket ship and it was nice that we were able to close it out.”
Blaney, Bell, and Hocevar were the front trio, just ahead of Ty Gibbs and Erik Jones. The rest of Atlanta’s top-10 were: Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, and Chris Buescher.
While Blaney is third in points, both ahead of him clinched Chase berths after Atlanta. Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick are both officially locks as the first two contenders to the 16-man title dance.
Blaney paced the way for 171 laps, the most led by anyone in a superspeedway win since Richard Petty’s 1964 Daytona 500 win. This also marks Ford’s 750th Cup triumph, with both blue oval wins coming from Blaney this season. The 12 is now only 65 points off of the regular season championship lead, with six races left until The Chase.
NASCAR Cup Series points with 6 races left in the regular season after @EchoParkSpdwy #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/4AFKwnGmjh
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) July 13, 2026
NASCAR Cup Series cars return to action at historic North Wilkesboro Speedway next weekend. The Window World 450 will be the first points race in 30 years on the hallowed bullring. This full return comes after three years of Wilkes County hosting the All-Star Race. The short track’s green flag will fly Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Always a threat on flat ovals, can Blaney back up his Atlanta stunner in the Piedmont foothills?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
