Ford has turned its Cup Series season around in a big way. Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse, proved that he had the car – and the pit strategy – to beat when he won at Iowa Speedway on June 16th, 2024.
Blaney took on just two tires in the final pit stop, a risky move in a race that saw quite a few race cars hit the wall due to tire wear. He went on to lead the final 88 laps, finishing 0.716 seconds ahead of the second-place car, the No. 24 Chevy Camaro ZL1 of William Byron, who had taken on four fresh tires during the same pit stop cycle. The win was Blaney’s first of the 2024 season, and the 11th of his career.
“What a cool way to win here. This place means a lot to me and means a lot to my mom [Lisa, from Chariton, Iowa],” said Blaney. “We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on, so they willed us to that one. Overall, I really appreciate the whole [No. 12 team]. I mean, our car was really fast all night and we got a little bit better through the night, and two tires was a good call there.”
He added, “I didn’t know how well I was going to hold on. I started to struggle a little bit at the end but had enough to hang on. I’m super proud of the effort.”
Byron finished second, followed by Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro, Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Camry, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s No. 47 Camaro rounding out the top five. Joey Logano’s No. 22 NASCAR Ford finished sixth, followed by the No. 4 Mustang of Josh Berry in seventh. Brad Keselowski was the only other Blue Oval team to finish inside the top 10, putting the No. 6 Mustang across the line 10th.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Advance Auto Parts Ford | 350 | 201 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 4 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 350 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 350 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 10 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Rheem Toyota | 350 | 7 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 35 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet | 350 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 350 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 3 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Overstock.com Ford | 350 | 32 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 33 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 350 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 13 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 350 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 5 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | King's Hawaiian/Casey's Ford | 350 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 17 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Busch Light For The Farmers Chevrolet | 350 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 12 | 14 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Ruedebusch Ford | 350 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 19 | 51 | Justin Haley | MotoRad Ford | 350 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 20 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Premier Security Chevrolet | 350 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 31 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Reser's Fine Foods Toyota | 349 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 16 | 23 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Bass Pro Shops Winchester Ford | 349 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 16 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 349 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 18 | 15 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 349 | 16 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 36 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 349 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 25 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Menards/MasterForce Tools Ford | 349 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 21 | 24 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Gainbridge/Iowa Hawkeyes Chevrolet | 349 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 8 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | McDonald's Toyota | 349 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 23 | 22 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 349 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 12 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 348 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 25 | 27 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 348 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 26 | 34 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Dollar Tree Toyota | 348 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 27 | 29 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Morton Buildings Ford | 348 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 6 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra USA 30 Years Ford | 348 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 348 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 21 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Moen Ford | 347 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 26 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 347 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 32 | 43 | Erik Jones | Family Dollar Toyota | 347 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 33 | 28 | 15 | Kaz Grala # | Remixers.com/Xemex Ford | 345 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 314 | 80 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 7 | 8 | Kyle Busch | zone/Kwik Trip Chevrolet | 272 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 18 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 54 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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