A bad pit stop may have buried Ryan Blaney in the field during the final stage at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but he did not let it keep him from checking off an important goal.
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The Team Penske driver captured his second consecutive win at the 1-mile track, and he added another lobster to his collection of trophies.
Bubba Wallace finished second after trying to chase down Blaney for the win. Josh Berry, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.
MORE: Blaney Wins, Full New Hampshire Results
Blaney won the second stage of Sunday's Cup Series race, and he led the field down pit road. However, he exited much further back in the pack due to an issue on his pit stop. The team had to tighten the left front wheel.
The 2023 Cup Series champion lined up 14th for the restart instead of in the top five. He remained out of contention for the win for much of the final stage, but the situation changed on Lap 225.
Riley Herbst crashed after contact from Michael McDowell, which brought out the caution and set up pit stops. Wallace led the field down pit road, but he exited sixth after a four-tire stop.
ANOTHER WRECK IN TURN 4! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Cdr8ojcMhF
— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) August 23, 2026
Blaney took the lead after his team gambled with two tires. William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, and Zane Smith all followed with two-tire stops.
Once the Team Penske driver got the track position, he did not relinquish it. He continued leading while other drivers struggled.
Byron crashed from fourth place after losing a left-rear wheel. Briscoe fell through the field and finished 26th. Smith fell to 13th. Logano fell to 14th. Meanwhile, Wallace moved into second place and began hounding Blaney for the lead over the final 62 laps.
Wallace spent much of this final run nearly two seconds back of his friend/competitor, but he closed to within half of a second with fewer than 10 laps remaining. He then nearly got to Blaney's bumper while working through traffic, but he could not make the race-winning pass. He locked up his brakes and ended his bid at the win.
BLANEY GOES BACK-TO-BACK!!! 🦞🏆 pic.twitter.com/eS7R2ARnIl
— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) August 23, 2026
"That made it difficult," Blaney said about the early pit road issue. "No, it was a good call after our issue on pit road. We did two (tires) at the end to try to hopefully get the lead, and we did.
"It was a long, long run to the end, longest run we had. Just tried to manage my stuff. Knew the four-tire guys would pressure me eventually. Bubba came on hard there. Just tried to manage the lap traffic and manage the tire, not make a mistake."
