Ryan Blaney led 28 of 312 laps at Phoenix Raceway to bag the win and end Tyler Reddick and the 23XI Racing’s winning streak. The result also capped a run for Team Penske at the same venue, where Josef Newgarden won the IndyCar Series race on Saturday. While Penske had reason to celebrate, the race dealt a major blow to Christopher Bell. His loss at the 1-mile-long oval followed an almost identical scene to the title race setback Denny Hamlin endured during the NASCAR Cup Championship Race in 2025.
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Bell crossed the line in second place in his No. 20 Toyota after pacing the field for a race-high 176 laps. The driver held the field at bay for much of the event, yet the race slipped through his fingers when pit road became the turning point. In the title race last year, Hamlin took four tires on the last stop of the race and watched Kyle Larson drive past for the crown after taking two. On Sunday, the same thing happened with the #20 JGR driver.
Blaney’s team took a gamble with two tires, while, just like Hamlin last year, Bell went with four. That was the decision that left them playing catch-up when the laps wound down. Speaking after the race, Bell said the team had reason to keep its chin up despite the result. “Yeah, I mean, ultimately, if we had more green flag laps, I think we could have made a run at them. But I don’t know. You win some, you lose some.”
“And this one stings, but on a positive side, I’m really proud of our entire team. The pit crew did amazing. Adam [Stevens, crew chief] brought an amazing car. Our engineers, our mechanics did really good. And it’s something to build on. I don’t know. It was a day that we needed. We got a lot of stage points, finished second. So, yeah, just bummed whenever they get away like that,” Bell continued.
Blaney, who now has three wins at Phoenix, had to weather trouble on pit road during the race. Yet when the final chips were down, the No. 12 team turned the direction of the race in his favor with a call from crew chief Jonathan Hassler. With 22 laps to go, the Penske camp chose to take just two tires. And that risk paid off when the race came down to the wire.
Bell’s team went for four tires and returned to the track in eighth place, leaving the driver to climb through traffic. He worked his way back to second, but the laps ran out before he could reel in the leader.
A few more laps might have turned the tables, as Blaney’s worn tires would have begun to lose grip. Still, by the end of lap 312, Blaney managed to maintain his lead, despite Bell coming as close as 0.399 seconds behind the #12 Team Penske driver.
