Ryan Blaney wins the Cup Race in Phoenix victory

Ryan Blaney achieved a hard-fought Team Penske sweep at the iconic Phoenix Raceway in Sunday's Straight Talk Wireless 500. Overcoming several early race challenges, he secured his first NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2026 season, complementing his Penske team's Saturday IndyCar victory at the track with a remarkable and well-received stock car triumph the following day.

Blaney faced two pit stop issues, including a penalty for pitting outside his box, which sent him to the back of the field twice early on. However, the 2023 series champion was undeterred, making a comeback in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford and taking the lead for good with 10 laps to go.

Blaney's team opted for new tires during a final stop under caution with 12 laps left, allowing him to advance after restarting from the second row.

He overtook then-leader Ty Gibbs with 10 laps remaining and held off Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell, who had led the most laps—176 of 312. Bell faced the challenge of moving up from eighth on the final restart as the first car with four fresh tires. Despite the advantage of new Goodyear tires, Bell could only close the gap slightly, finishing .399 seconds behind Blaney.

"Just perseverance," Blaney said of his day. "Everyone on the 12 team persevered throughout. We made some mistakes, learned from them, improved, and came from the back a couple of times.

"The 20 [Bell] was clearly the best car. But Jonathan [Hassler, No. 12 crew chief] made a great call to take two [tires on the last stop]. We managed to get the lead and hold them off. I'm not sure how many more laps I could have kept them at bay.

"Really proud of everyone at Team Penske. We swept the weekend with [Josef] Newgarden winning yesterday (in the NTT IndyCar Series race) and us winning today. Looking forward to seeing Roger [Penske, team owner]. Can't praise the 12 guys enough for staying focused and doing their job, and Jonathan again for making a smart call at the end."

Bright sunshine and temperatures near 90 degrees greeted a large crowd for Sunday's second half of the popular racing doubleheader weekend, featuring both IndyCar and NASCAR marquee events. Many open-wheel racers stayed to watch the stock car competition from team pit stands.

The Penske team certainly capitalized on this unique doubleheader opportunity.

MORE: Penske showcases total dominance across series at Phoenix

This victory marks the 32-year-old Blaney's 18th career win and second at Phoenix, moving him to second place in the championship standings—now 60 points behind 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, whose historic three-race winning streak to start the season ended with an eighth-place finish on Sunday.

Reddick stayed within the top 10 throughout the race but never truly contended for the win.

"We kind of just hovered around fifth all day," Reddick admitted, with 23XI Racing team co-owner Michael Jordan trackside again supporting the team's record-setting 2026 season start.

"Looking at the board over here, we scored the fourth most points today," he added. "That's what we need to keep doing all year to maintain our lead and try to hold onto it. Solid day. If we're not winning, these are the days we need. Happy to leave with some points."

Bell, last year's race winner, whose own three-race winning streak last season included this Phoenix race, was understandably disappointed to finish second after leading the most laps. However, his No. 20 JGR team made a significant leap from 24th to sixth in the championship standings heading to Las Vegas next week. He and Blaney each won a stage on Sunday.

MORE: Stage 1 results | Stage 2 results

"Ultimately, with more green flag laps, I think we could have challenged him," Bell said. "I don't know. You win some, you lose some. This one hurts, but on the bright side, I'm really proud of our entire team. It's something to build on. We needed a day like this. We got a lot of stage points, finished second—just disappointed when they slip away like that."

Beyond Blaney and Bell, reigning series champion Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson finished third, followed by Bell's JGR teammates Gibbs, who now has consecutive fourth-place finishes this season, and Denny Hamlin.

Reddick's teammate, Bubba Wallace, was sixth, followed by Hendrick's William Byron, Reddick, Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell, and Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones. Popular driver Shane Van Gisbergen, the series road racing ace, rallied to an 11th-place finish despite being involved in multiple incidents during the day.

The race's 12 cautions tied the track record for yellow flags. There were eight leaders and 23 lead changes.

Anthony Alfredo, who was substituting for Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman, finished 33rd in the No. 48 Chevrolet after being caught in a multi-car crash with just under 100 laps remaining.