March 13, 2026
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Blaney returned to Victory Lane at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 8, ending Tyler Reddick’s early-season winning streak with a victory in the Straight Talk Wireless 500.
Blaney, driving the No. 12 Ford for Team Penske, worked his way through the field multiple times during a caution-filled 312-lap NASCAR Cup Series race before taking the lead late, then held off Christopher Bell over the final laps.
Reddick entered the weekend riding the momentum of back-to-back-to-back wins to open the season, including the Daytona 500 and the following week’s race in Atlanta and Circuit of the Americas. That run ended Sunday as Blaney surged to the front and led the final 10 laps to secure the win.
Blaney credited his team for guiding him through traffic and maintaining track position during a race that featured several restarts and constant movement throughout the field. He made 49 passes during the race while leading 28 laps.
“Definitely a long day, but really proud of everybody for keeping their heads down,” Blaney said in his post-race press conference. “It’s easy to beat yourself up over that stuff and kind of take yourself out of the game. But those guys just don’t do that. Those guys’ mentality is unbelievable and on this 12 group is where it needs to be. Mainly proud of the effort for all those guys for fighting back like they did.”
Bell appeared poised for victory after dominating much of the race. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led a race-high 176 laps and won Stage 2 but was unable to reclaim the lead in the closing laps.
“You win some, you lose some,” Bell said on pit road after the race. “This one stings, but on the positive side, I’m really proud of our entire team. The pit crew did amazing. Adam (Stevens) brought an amazing car. Our mechanics, engineers did really good.”
Kyle Larson finished third, followed by Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin to round out the top five.
The win also capped a strong weekend for Team Penske at Phoenix. Josef Newgarden captured Saturday’s IndyCar race at the same track, giving the organization victories in both of the weekend’s major events.
“I can only imagine today how excited that suite was when he was sitting in his chair and we got the lead. There’s not a lot of things that Roger hasn’t done,” Blamey said. “It’s really cool to add to it. I was really fortunate to be a part of the Coke 600 and Indy 500 sweep a few years ago with me and Josef. It’s cool that we could add another milestone to Roger, especially the 60-year anniversary. It’s a special year for everybody. Nice, we could get our first win of the year and something new that we haven’t done before.”
