TALLADEGA, AL – October 2, 2023 – Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney won Sunday’s YellaWood 500, earning a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8. This past weekend’s win marked Blaney’s second win of the season, third at Talladega, and ninth of his career. Ford has now won 10 playoff races at Talladega, making it the most of any track.

“Congratulations to Roger, Tim, Ryan, Jonathan, and everyone at Team Penske and Ford Performance on the race win at Talladega,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “The Ford Performance Mustangs were fast in qualifying and Ryan wheeled the 12 car into victory lane, what an incredible finish!”

“I’m just proud of the whole 12 group. Pennzoil, Menards, BodyArmor, Dex Imaging, Advance Auto Parts, Wurth, everybody who makes this possible. To win here three times at Talladega is super cool. I have to give a big thanks to Riley Herbst. He did a really good job there the last couple restarts. He doesn’t have a lot of Cup starts, but he did a great job and pushed me so thanks to him. This is so cool.” commented Blaney.

Fast Ford Mustangs started the weekend off strong as Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola was the fastest in qualifying, followed by Team Penske’s Joey Logano in P2, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Brisoce in P3, along with four other Ford Performance drivers that qualified in the top-10 on Saturday.

Sunday’s race consisted of two 60-lap stages followed by a final 68 laps around the 2.66-mile oval superspeedway. Stage 1 ended with Ryan Blaney out front to take the Stage 1 win under caution. A last lap push at the end of Stage 2 helped RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski win the stage, gaining valuable playoff points. Throughout the race there were a total of 70 lead changes among 24 drivers, with Team Penske’s Joey Logano leading the most with 24 laps. Several cars were collected in a wreck late in Stage 3, which brought out the red flag to repair the SAFER barrier before final pit stops of the day. In the final stretch of the race, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick took the lead twice as it was a fierce battle with Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. Harvick and Blaney crossed the finish line side by side in a photo finish, with Blaney taking the win by 0.012 seconds.

A total of four Ford Performance drivers finished in the top-10: Team Penske’s Austin Cindric in P5, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece in P8, and Front Row Motorsports’ Riley Herbst in P9.

Both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series head to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval road course in Concord, North Carolina this weekend where each playoff field gets narrowed down to the Round of 8.

35 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 455 WINS – 420 POLES

*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images

LAS VEGAS, NV – October 16, 2023 – Stewart-Haas Racing’s #98 Riley Herbst won Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, marking his first win in the Xfinity Series. The win also marked Stewart-Haas Racing’s 24th Xfinity Series victory and 100th win overall.

“Congratulations to Tony, Gene, Davin, Riley, and everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing on the race win at Las Vegas,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Both Stewart-Haas cars were fast throughout the day. Riley raced his way from the back of the field and dominated at his hometown track for the win.”

“Oh my goodness. I love this town. I love this team. Davin Restivo believes in me, but I have to give a big shout out to Richard Boswell because I wouldn’t be the person I am or the race car driver without him. I can’t thank Monster Energy enough, Mitch Covington, Dave Gowan. Everybody said I couldn’t do it and those two people stuck behind my my whole career. You don’t even know what this means and what this takes off my chest. I can’t believe it. I love you Las Vegas. Let’s go,” commented Herbst.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer started Saturday’s race from P2 while Riley Herbst qualified in P8 but started the race at the rear of the field. With 10 of 45 laps remaining in Stage 1, Custer passed Chandler Smith to take the lead and win the stage by 0.392 seconds. A multi-car wreck at the beginning of the second stage red-flagged the race for nearly nine minutes to clean up the debris. Custer maintained the lead throughout the second stage until Riley Herbst made a last lap pass to win Stage 2. During the break before the final stage, all the cars on the lead lap pitted and Herbst won the race off pit road. With 75 laps remaining, Herbst held a 4-second lead over teammate Cole Custer. After a final round of green flag pit stops for new tires and fuel, Herbst cycled back to the lead with 56 laps to go and didn’t look back. Herbst took the checkered flag with a margin of 14.959 seconds over second place John Hunter Nemechek, leaving only 10 cars on the lead lap.

Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer finished in P3.

The NASCAR Cup Series also raced at Las Vegas on Sunday. RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher finished in P4 and P10, Team Penske’s Joey Logano finished in P11, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola and Kevin Harvick finished in P13 and P15.

Both the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series head to Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida this weekend.

35 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 456 WINS – 420 POLES

*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images

RIDGEWAY, VA – October 30, 2023 – Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney won Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, earning a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Round of 4. This past weekend’s win marked Blaney’s third win of the season and 10th of his career.

“Congratulations to Roger, Tim, Jonathan, Ryan, and everyone at Team Penske on the race win at Martinsville,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Jonathan and Ryan have worked well together throughout the regular season and earned the opportunity to race for Ryan’s first NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Championship”.

“I thought we put together a really strong playoffs, especially the Round of 8. We had a good Round of 8, so just really proud of the whole effort. Proud to have Discount Tire on the car, Menards, Ford, Advance Auto Parts, Body Armor. RP couldn’t be here unfortunately, but I know he’s watching and this is awesome stuff. I can’t wait to get to Phoenix next week,” commented Blaney.

Four Ford Performance drivers qualified and started Sunday’s race in the top 10: Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe in P3, Kevin Harvick in P8, Ryan Preece in P9, and Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing’s Brad Keselowski in P10. Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney qualified in P11 and was fourth in the standings at the beginning of the race; 10 points ahead of Tyler Reddick, 17 points ahead of Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr, and 43 points ahead of RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher.

At the end of Stage 1, Blaney had worked his way to the front of the field to finish in P2. After a back-and-forth battle with Denny Hamlin, Blaney took the lead to win the second stage. The race featured a total of seven cautions, the most of any race at Martinsville since the introduction of the Next Gen car. During a 168-lap green-flag run to the finish, Blaney passed Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola on Lap 478 of 500. Twenty-two laps later, Blaney took the checkered flag 0.899 seconds ahead of Almirola and advanced to the Championship 4. Blaney joins fellow Round of 8 winners Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell along with William Byron in the race for the 2023 NCS title.

A total of seven Ford Performance drivers finished in the top-10: Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in P1, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola and Chase Briscoe in P2 and P4, Team Penske’s Joey Logano in P5, RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher in P8, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric in P9, and Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland in P10.

The Xfinity Series also raced at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday where Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst finished in P4 and Cole Custer finished in P19. Cole advances on to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 4 and races for the championship this upcoming weekend.

Both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series head to Phoenix Raceway for the final race of the 2023 season.

35 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 457 WINS – 420 POLES

*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images