(photo credit Leon Hammack)

Team Penske Fords were fast in practice, fast in qualifying and fastest in the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when it counted Sunday afternoon with Ryan Blaney taking a .937-second victory over fellow Ford driver Josh Berry in the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs’ Round of 12.

It marked a distinct competitive turn in this year’s championship with three Fords finishing among the top-five and three Chevrolets among the top-eight at the one-mile New Hampshire track after a Toyota sweep of the Playoffs’ opening three-race round.

Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford – which started on the outside of the front row – led 116 of the race’s 301 laps including the final 39 laps holding off the Wood Brothers Racing driver Berry, who had rallied back in his No. 21 Ford after a spin on Lap 21.

“Probably the hardest 20 laps I drove,” Blaney, 31, said of the race’s closing laps. “Was trying to bide my stuff and he [Berry] really started coming. He started to get super free and it was all I could do to hold him off. It was good racing. Clean racing and I appreciate Josh not throwing me the bumper when he could have.”

Blaney’s victory cashes the popular 2023 series champion’s ticket into the Round of 8 in pursuit of his second NASCAR Cup Series title. Important both Sunday and likely further in the Playoffs as the season’s three-race winner can expect fierce competition from his Penske teammate, three-time and reigning series champ Joey Logano as the Playoffs intensify.

The two were quickest throughout preparation for Sunday’s race and maintained that edge throughout the day – combining to lead 263 of the 301 laps.

The pole-winner Logano led the most laps (147) and finished fourth. He crossed the line just behind another Playoff-eligible driver, Hendrick Motorsports William Byron, whose teammate Chase Elliott turned in an inspiring comeback performance with a fifth-place showing after a 27th-place starting position.

“We ran well, we just weren’t the fastest car,” Logano said. “The 12 [Blaney] was fastest in practice and he showed that again in the race. Our only chance to beat him was on pit road and beat him on details. But they were able to make up their track position when they put four [tires] on. That last restart I could have started behind him and finished third in the race, but if I was behind the 12 [Blaney] I wasn’t going to win.”

It perhaps marked a significant turn in competition – early in this round, at least – with the top Toyota driver, the race’s defending winner Christopher Bell leading that manufacturer with a sixth-place finish Sunday. He won just a week ago capping a three-race Toyota winning sweep in the opening Playoff series.

Playoff driver, Hendrick’s Kyle Larson was seventh, followed by Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell and Playoff drivers Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing) and Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing).

JGR’s veteran driver Denny Hamlin, who ran top-10 most of the day, and was involved in an incident with his teammate Ty Gibbs mid-race, dropped from the championship lead coming into New Hampshire to now fifth place in the points with a 12th place run. The season’s five-race winner had no comment, however, about the contact with Gibbs that put the young third-year driver into the wall and out of the race while they both raced among the top-10.

Blaney’s victory – the 16th of his career – automatically moves him into the next round of the Playoffs. Byron is now second in the standings, 47 points above the cutoff line. Larson is 41 points up and Bell is 29 points to the good.

“The Penske cars were super-fast, kind of in another zip code,” said Byron, who’s third-place finish marks his first career top-10 showing in eight New Hampshire races.

“If we can just build on this, all our short tracks are coming together,” said Byron. “It’s no breathing room because you have to go out there and execute every week and keep your foot on the gas in this deal. But hopefully we can go to Kansas and be up front contending for a win.

“…Definitely wasn’t expecting to be this strong here, so hopefully we can to Kansas and be really good.’’

Hamlin is now fifth in the standings with a 24-point cushion on the elimination line, followed by Logano (plus-24), Elliott (plus-14), and Briscoe who holds a 12-point advantage over Chastain for the eighth and final Playoff position to advance following the Kansas race next week and the Charlotte ROVAL race in two weeks.

Team Penske’s Austin Cindric (minus-19) and 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick (minus-23) and Bubba Wallace (minus-23) are also below the Playoff line heading to Kansas. Cindric finished 17th Sunday, Reddick was 21st and Wallace was 26th.

The Cup Series moves to the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Chastain is the defending race winner.

Check out the results the Mobil 1 301 at Loudon.

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!