Ryan Blaney finally claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season with a commanding performance at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday night, ending a frustrating run with a dominant finish in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang.

Blaney, the reigning 2023 Cup Series champion, had shown strong form throughout the year with five top-five finishes but had struggled to convert speed into wins — until now. After leading a race-high 139 laps, he took the chequered flag and marked the occasion with a celebratory burnout in front of delighted fans.

"I'm ready to go celebrate,” said Blaney. “It’s been a tough year, but I never gave up hope. We’ve had great speed all season, just not the best luck. But the No. 12 team have been brilliant — they stick with it through everything.”

The win marks Blaney’s 14th career Cup victory, his first since Martinsville in November, and makes him the ninth different race winner this season. He also becomes the fifth different winner in as many races at Nashville and gives Team Penske their second consecutive Cup win at the 1.33-mile concrete track.

Starting from 15th, Blaney swiftly climbed the order and claimed victory in the second stage. He crossed the finish line 2.83 seconds ahead of Carson Hocevar, who equalled his career-best result from Atlanta in February — despite mid-race concerns about the handling of his No. 77 Chevrolet.

“Either I’m really dramatic or they’re really good at adjustments,” Hocevar admitted. “Probably a bit of both. But I’m proud of this group. At a place where passing is tough, we went from 26th to second.”

Denny Hamlin, competing in his 700th career Cup Series race, finished third — matching Jeff Gordon’s finish at Darlington in 2013 for the best result in a driver’s 700th start. Joey Logano, last year’s winner at Nashville, came home fourth, followed by William Byron in fifth.

Hamlin had hoped for one final caution that never arrived after seven cautions across 35 laps.

“I just couldn’t stay with the No. 12 on that long run,” Hamlin said. “After about 40 laps, I was still there — but then Blaney just pulled away.”

The final phase of the race remained under green, forcing teams into strategic decisions regarding pit stops. Blaney led 107 laps before pitting under green on lap 248. Hamlin briefly inherited the lead before his stop on lap 256.

Crew chief Jonathan Hassler explained that the timing of Blaney’s final stop was designed to get him back on track in clean air.

“It was just really nice to see a race come together and finish it properly,” said Hassler.

Brad Keselowski took the lead when he pitted on lap 269, after which Blaney resumed control for the final 31 laps to seal victory.

Hamlin, who had started alongside pole-sitter Chase Briscoe, was unsure whether he would be racing at all, as his fiancée was due to give birth to their son on the same day. Joe Gibbs Racing had Ryan Truex on standby, but Hamlin ultimately contested the race — and even won the first stage — despite suffering the latter part without water or cooling.

Elsewhere, Tyler Reddick became a father for the second time early on race day, announcing the birth of his son at 2:20 a.m. on 25 May, before going on to finish 26th in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. became the first retirement of the race after being tapped by Hocevar, sending his No. 47 Chevrolet into the wall between Turns 3 and 4 and triggering the second caution on lap 106.

AJ Allmendinger had a rough start, beginning at the back and serving a stop-and-go penalty for an unapproved splitter adjustment during Saturday’s practice. His No. 16 Chevrolet had to return to the garage and the scanning station before being cleared.

Meanwhile, Chad Finchum’s No. 66 Ford failed inspection twice, resulting in the ejection of engineer Austin Webb and the loss of pit stall selection for Garage 66.

The NASCAR Cup Series now heads to Michigan International Speedway on 8 June for the next round of action.