Team Penske ends Chase opener with strong result

Sure, Martin Truex Jr. won the first race of the playoffs, but it was the Team Penske Fords that persevered after 400 miles at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.

Although the Hendrick Chevys led 195 of 270 laps and appeared to be the strongest cars throughout the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, following a two-lap shoot out in overtime the Penske Fords of Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski all finished in the top five.

“It was awesome execution by the 22 team,” Logano said. “From every angle. We had a very fast race car and were awesome on pit road. You want to talk about pressure, not just Chase pressure, but coming down at the end of the race to try to win, they executed and had an awesome pit stop and beat the 11 out and ultimately gives us a second place finish.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the team and the way we executed and attacked today. We will take this momentum and run with it the next nine weeks.”

Logano was running fourth when the final caution occurred on Lap 263 after Michael McDowell blew a tire. Keselowski came into the pits fifth and exited ninth. He recovered to finish fifth.

“It was a solid day for us out there, nothing flashy,” said Keselowski, who held on to second in the standings. “We ended up with a pretty decent finish.

“You want to have solid days on days where you aren’t going to collect the win and that is what we had today. We kind of ran third to fifth most of the race and I think that is probably where we deserved to be.”

Blaney's gamble pays off

Blaney, who was seventh prior to the caution, stayed on the track during the last caution and inherited the lead from Chase Elliott. On old tires, Blaney couldn’t hold off Truex or Logano and was barely edged out at the line by fellow rookie Elliott.

"I thought we had a shot but those guys on new tires were so fast,” Blaney said. “We weren't in contention for the win all race. We were fast, don't get me wrong, we were probably a fifth to eighth-place car.

“The last caution came out and we were seventh and thought that's where we'd end up. Staying out was worth a shot. We had nothing to lose. Why not do it? If two more cars stayed out, we might have had a better shot.”

Blaney, who started 22nd and led the race for the first time on Lap 238, held the point twice for a total of eight laps — the only circuits he led all season. His fourth-place finish ties his best tied his career-best — which he also matched last month at Michigan International Speedway.

"It's a good way to start the Chase,” Blaney said. “Even though we're not in it, to show everybody that we deserve to run up front."