What Happened?
After a midday wash and rinse, Ryan Blaney hit repeat at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with another dominant performance. Blaney held off a hard-charging Bubba Wallace and Josh Berry to win the Dollar Tree 301 Sunday (Aug. 23) afternoon. Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson completed the top five.
The No. 12 team took an unconventional route to defend their win from a year ago. Blaney drove to the front and won the second stage, but a slow stop shuffled him back in the field. The team utilized a two-tire stop to regain their position on the point, and Blaney never looked back.
What Really Happened?
Right now, this point of the season almost feels like a rerun of just about every single year in the Next Gen era. The Toyotas and Chevrolets duke it out in the first half of the season, becoming the focus for the championship race.
Suddenly, the Team Penske Fords find speed, win races and snatch the spotlight – winning the championship in three of the last four seasons. Heck, they would have gone four-for-four had Blaney finished one spot better at Martinsville Speedway last fall.
It feels like the same story is being written at this point in the season now, with Blaney and his teammate Joey Logano winning four of the last six races, two wins for each of them. Sure, the championship format has reverted back to the 10-race Chase to prevent a team from getting ‘lucky’ in the right races. Does Team Penske even need the luck this year, though?
Early in the season – during Ford’s annual struggle bus period – Blaney still managed to take it to the dominant Toyotas and put together incredible runs. Now, his team has all the momentum in the world, and that will definitely translate into the final 10 races. With Logano, don’t even get me started. I’ve seen enough even-year Logano voodoo to become a believer that he’ll be in the title race again come Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It certainly feels like the Penske Fords are back to their formidable end-of-season form. The question, however, is whether or not these fast few months have given a false reading due to the schedule composition turning to mainly short tracks and superspeedways.
In the Next Gen era (since 2022), six of Logano’s 11 wins have come at a short track or superspeedway. The percentage for Blaney is even higher, as 10 of his 13 Next Gen victories (including each of his last six) have all been at these two types of tracks. Including Daytona International Speedway next week, six of the final seven races leading into The Chase are on superspeedways and short tracks, broken up by Indianapolis Motor Speedway back at the end of July.
I still believe Team Penske is following their blueprint to come on strong at the end of the season. If you look at The Chase, World Wide Technology Raceway, Phoenix Raceway and Martinsville have all been Penske strongholds. You’ve also got Bristol Motor Speedway – a short track – and the superspeedway of Talladega.
In the last two even years, Logano won the fall race at Las Vegas. Plus, Blaney has a Next Gen win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and he’s recently run well at Bristol, Darlington Raceway, and Homestead-Miami.
It would not shock me to see Logano and Blaney hold steady and be a part of the championship conversation over the course of the final 10 races. At the same time, the field has to have a little hope that maybe the Penske power is peaking just a little too early compared to what we’ve become accustomed to.
Who Stood Out?
A little under a month ago, Josh Berry recorded his third top-10 of the season. He’s now doubled that number after recording four consecutive top-10 finishes in the races since.
It’s a fascinating stretch of runs, given it’s all taken place after Berry announced he would not return to the Wood Brothers in 2027 and that Jesse Love would drive the No. 21 as well. Does this rise have connections with the recent Penske speed? Is it a product of Berry’s short-track prowess? Or has Berry just not had enough true opportunities to showcase his own abilities?
We’re still waiting to hear Berry’s plans for next season, but surely this past month has bought him a full-time ride somewhere else.
Another standout from this week was Noah Gragson. I first noticed the No. 4 Ford ripping around the outside on a restart mid-race before realizing Gragson was still a lap down. The Front Row Motorsports driver got a much-needed caution to earn the free pass, and he did not put that opportunity to waste.
Gragson continued to be aggressive on restarts, and some serious speed in the Ford allowed Gragson to maintain his spot at the tail-end of the top 10 through the checkered flag.
Who Fell Flat?
There’s still 11 races to go in the season, but it’s pretty much over for Ross Chastain. Trackhouse Racing’s veteran driver was a weekly threat a few weeks ago, and many – including competitors like Denny Hamlin – assumed Chastain was a Chase lock. With one race to go before the cutoff, the No. 1 went out with a whimper.
Trackhouse as a whole has been another team that seems to start off seasons slow before finding speed later on in the year. Chastain and his team had the look of a group starting to figure it out, but an unexpected issue killed what hope was left early on in the first stage.
The Big 6: Questions Answered After Ryan Blaney Goes Back to Back In New Hampshire for a Twin Lobster Special
The summer of sadness for Hendrick Motorsports continued, but the most disappointed of the bunch has to be William Byron. The No. 24 finished third at New Hampshire in 2025, and that’s where Byron started this weekend. Byron led early in the wet, but his pit crew – normally rock solid – made a mistake that resulted in a penalty.
Much like Blaney, Byron’s team used some strategy to regain track position and get all the way back to a front row restarting position. This time, a loose wheel came off the car and sent Byron into the wall. The weird part? The No. 24 crew only changed two right-side tires on the previous stop. That wheel decided to hang on for a while before letting go on that restart.
Paint Scheme of the Race
It was a big race for Dollar Tree. Not only did the company sponsor the 301-lap race, but also the Dollar Tree colors covered both Legacy Motor Club cars. The team, along with Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek, have had the relationship with Dollar Tree for a few years now.
The decision to sponsor the race and both cars was an intentional one, as Dollar Tree is celebrating their 40th anniversary. There’s no better way to celebrate than to make a one-off scheme. Even better, Nemechek even changed over to the No. 40 for the weekend.
What’s Next?
There’s no more Daytona playoff cutoff drama, as the majority of drivers have already clinched or been eliminated from Chase contention. Still, a few guys – including Shane van Gisbergen and Ryan Preece – have to settle the score for the final three Chase spots Saturday night.
The NASCAR Cup Series field returns to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, Aug. 29. The green flag is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!
Morgan Shepherd!!!!!!! Really?
How come there was no penalty for Christopher Bell running over the air hose and his crew member? Does the air hose not count as equipment?
I was wondering about that too. The airgun and hose definitely left the pit box.
I assume the crew member isn’t technically considered equipment.
Remember who he drives for. Penalties for some, not for all.
Blaney’s pit crew are going to have to pick up their act. Every week they comment blunder after blunder.
Starting the race on rain tires was ridiculous. They would never have started that race until the air dryers cleared the track. Running on the apron and up by the wall. That was embarrassing.
Is Penske the recipient of the change in the flexing splitter change?
Remember who he drives for. Penalties for some, not for all.