TC Daily Pit Stop: Ryan Blaney Perseveres Through Pit Road Gaffes to Win Phoenix

TC Daily Pit Stop: Monday, March 9, 2026

Mar 09, 2026

Ryan Blaney Perseveres, Uses Two-Tire Strategy to Win Phoenix

Two loose wheels on pit road couldn’t stop him. Christopher Bell, having the dominant car, couldn’t either. At the end of the day, Ryan Blaney is just really good at Phoenix Raceway, and when the chips were on the table, his crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, called a winning two-tire strategy on the final pit stop, which put him in position to pull off a come-from-behind win in the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

Blaney, who took the Stage 1 win in the race, would make the race-winning pass on Ty Gibbs with 10 laps to go, and over the course of the final 10 laps, he would be able to hold off the four fresh tires on Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to take his first win of the season, and the 18th win of his career.

“We were able to get the lead and hold them off. I don’t know how many more laps I could have held them off,” Blaney admitted. “We were able to do that.”