Reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney returned to the site of his first career NASCAR Cup Series win and pulled away from the field in the closing laps of Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400 at a sold-out Pocono Raceway to deliver a strong reminder to the competition that he’s primed to contend for another season trophy.

Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford held off Denny Hamlin, the track’s all-time winningest driver, in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota by 1.312 seconds to give Blaney his second victory of the season – both coming in just the last five races – and the 12th win of the 30-year-old’s career.

“Hell yeah, boys, let’s go,” an elated Blaney screamed to his team as he crossed the historic Pocono finish line.

With the victory, Blaney moves up to fifth place in the championship standings, and thanks to his first win of the year at Iowa Speedway on June 16, he’s one of only five drivers with multiple victories on the season.

“Feel like we’ve gotten to a great pace and speed the last couple months,” Blaney said. “Honestly thought we let a couple races slip away from us I thought we should have won. It’s just so cool to win here again. Won here seven years ago for my first Cup win, so awesome to be back.”

Although he ran among the top 10 for much of the race, Blaney ultimately took the lead on a restart with 44 laps remaining and never relinquished it despite two more restarts and a highly motivated Hamlin lining up either alongside him or directly behind him on each of those green flags.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, last week’s race winner, filled Blaney’s mirrors for much of the closing laps until getting passed by Hamlin with seven laps remaining. Bowman finished third, with his Hendrick teammate William Byron and Blaney’s Team Penske teammate Joey Logano rounding out the top five.

“Track position was just such a big thing, and when that 12 [Blaney] jumped on that stage we won, that put them in front of us and certainly were going to be hard to pass,” said Hamlin, a seven-time Pocono race winner who won Sunday’s second stage.

“Just not enough laps of green there at the end, but hats off to them, great run. He kept up great pace at there at the front and hard for me to even get up there close enough to try to reel him in.”

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski, JGR’s Martin Truex Jr. (the opening stage winner), Hendrick’s Chase Elliott and 23XI’s Bubba Wallace rounded out the top 10. Both Elliott’s and Wallace’s finishes, in particular, were impactful on the championship standings.

The 2020 series champion Elliott took over the championship lead from his teammate, 2021 series champ Kyle Larson, and he takes a slim three-point advantage atop the regular season standings with only five races remaining before the playoffs. The Regular Season Champion receives a valuable 15 extra playoff points to carry with him through the 10-race playoff run.

Wallace’stop-10finishwasalsoimportant in his quest to become championshipeligible for the second consecutive year. He is now ranked 17th, only 27 points behind 16th-place Ross Chastain on the provisional playoff grid. The 16 title-eligible drivers will be determined after the Sept. 1 race at Darlington Raceway.

Chastain, one of four drivers inside the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field without a win but based on points, finished 36th Sunday. His No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet slammed the Turn 1 wall on Lap 53, and the team had to retire the car.

Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch was involved in a multi-car accident with 39 laps remaining and finished 32nd on Sunday. He’s now finished 27th or worse in four of the last five races, including DNFs in five of his last seven. Busch is ranked 19th in the playoff standings, 102 points behind Chastain. The two-time series champion is not only trying to make the playoffs but extend a career winning streak to 19 seasons.

Notes: Competition officials indicated that three cars — one from each manufacturer — would be brought back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for further inspection: the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for driver Christopher Bell, the No. 22 Team Penske Ford for driver Joey Logano, and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for Alex Bowman. … Ty Gibbs started from the pole position and led twice for 21 laps, but his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota expired with engine failure 28 laps from the end. He finished 27th.