Ryan Blaney credits crew chief’s call to sacrifice stage points for Pocono victory

Ryan Blaney clinched his second victory of the season at Pocono Raceway ahead of odds-on favorite Denny Hamlin. The reigning NASCAR Cup champion credited his crew chief Jonathan Hassler for the strategy that put him on course to victory lane.

Stage Racing at the Tricky Triangle has always revolved around strategy, and the #12 Penske team played their cards right to outsmart the competition. They strategically flipped both stages, taking on extra fuel during green flag runs and sacrificing stage points.

Ryan Blaney lined up eighth on the grid for the 160-lap race and stayed out on Lap 15 which set him on course to flip both stages. Despite losing stage points, this strategy helped Blaney carry extra fuel under green flag stops, contrary to his rivals who lost positions pitting under stage cautions. A two-tire stop in the final pit stops put him in the lead, as he went on to take the checkered flag.

"We kind of made the call early, I think it was the caution at Lap 15, halfway through the Stage 1 and two-thirds of the field pitted and we stayed out. At that point our bet was kind of made to the strategy that we had that set us up for the end of the race," he told SiriusXM NASCAR radio.

"Knowing that we were gonna throw away stage points, we were gonna flip the stages, we were gonna take a bunch of gas when we flip the stage, so that we do not have to wait on gas at the end of the race."

Praising the strategy conceived by his crew chief Jonathan Hassler, Ryan Blaney added:

"Jonathan was fantastic on understanding the whole landscape of how the race was playing out and stuck to his plan and believed in it the whole time and he was able to put us in a spot."

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Ryan Blaney's crew chief reveals how Joey Logano's tire test transformed their season

Team Penske has been on the up since Joey Logano's victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway, with all three drivers now locked into the playoffs. Ryan Blaney's crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, disclosed that Logano's tire test in March at NWS helped improve their short-track program.

"I know within our organization, Joey Logano and the team had a good test at North Wilkesboro March, April time frame. That got us going in the right direction on our short track program," he said at Pocono (via SpeedwayDigest.com).

"Once we all kind of got some wins, I think we've been able to push the envelope to try to make speed on the intermediates. Proud of the effort we had with that," he added.

Ryan Blaney's victory at Pocono and Joey Logano's top-5 result indicate the team has also improved their speed on bigger ovals. Their performance gains on big ovals will be further tested in the coming weeks at Indianapolis and Michigan.