Ryan Blaney wins NASCAR Truck race at Pocono in overtime

Ryan Blaney wins NASCAR Truck race at Pocono in overtime

Aug. 3, 2013 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

LONG POND, Pa.--Ryan Blaney took the lead on a Lap 53 restart and held it through the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish to win Saturday’s Pocono Mountains 125 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Pocono Raceway.

 

Driving the No. 29 Ford owned by Brad Keselowski, Blaney, 19, beat Miguel Paludo to the finish line by .271 seconds to earn his first victory of the season, his first at Pocono and the second of his career in the Truck Series.

 

The runner-up finish was a career best for Paludo.

 

Rookie German Quiroga finished third, followed by Joey Coulter--last year’s Pocono winner--and Ross Chastain, Blaney’s teammate. Ron Hornaday Jr., Darrell Wallace Jr., series leader Matt Crafton, Brendan Gaughan and Brennan Newberry completed the top 10.

 

Newberry’s top 10 was his first in 21 Truck Series starts.

 

After a spin by Ricky Ehrgott on the opening lap, the race was caution-free until Lap 42 of a scheduled 50, when NASCAR threw a yellow because of debris on the track.

 

Todd Bodine, driving in a one-race deal for Turner Motorsports, held the lead at the time, but during a scramble for the lead in Turn 1 after a Lap 47 restart, Bodine spun after contact from James Buescher’s Chevrolet to bring out the third caution.

 

Contact between the trucks of Ty Dillon and Johnny Sauter, as Dillon moved up the track believing he had a clear lane to the outside, caused the final caution on Lap 50 and extended the race four laps beyond its posted distance.

 

Blaney took the lead from Quiroga on the final restart and pulled away for the victory.