LONG POND, Pa. _ Around lap 40 of 160, crew chief Jeremy Bullins spoke by radio to his driver, Ryan Blaney. He did not hear anything back.
"Are you trying to talk to us?" Bullins asked, and again he did not hear Blaney's voice.
Some 300 miles later, Blaney emerged from his car and spoke to his team for the first time in 2{ hours. His first words were: "We did it."
Working with a faulty communications system, Blaney took his first lead of the day on Lap 151 and outlasted Kevin Harvick by 0.139 seconds to win the Pocono 400 for his first NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series victory.
Throughout the race, Blaney could hear his team, but they could not hear him. They tried switching radios, but locked in a tight battle, they could not find a solution without giving up time.
"So we're just going to have to old-school this and get through it," Bullins recalled thinking. "It was pretty much that simple."
Blaney was not in the top 10 at the end of either of the first two stages. But he had a fast Ford, and by Lap 120 he sneaked into second behind Kyle Busch. For the last 20 laps, four drivers battled for their first Cup Series win at Pocono Raceway. Busch, the pole sitter, led for 100 laps and was 0 for 24 at Pocono. Erik Jones led for 20 laps and was 0 for 0 here. Harvick rode Blaney's tail for the last five laps. But none could beat the 23-year-old to the finish.
During a caution at Lap 141, Busch stayed on the track to maintain his position. Blaney and others took a pit stop for fresh tires, and they all chased Busch after the restart.
At that point, Blaney was running third. But second-place Brad Keselowski faded, and Blaney first overtook Busch on Lap 151. He cruised to the finish just ahead of Harvick.
The first half of the race was marred by problems for the two biggest-name drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr., the fan favorite, started from the back after he had to change engines Friday. He then struggled to change gears Sunday and stopped after 58 laps.
The scarier moment, though, came on Lap 96, when Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray both lost control of their brakes in the same spot. Within a few seconds of each other, they skidded around the first turn and crashed into the wall.
McMurray's car caught on fire, and the driver hopped out and over the wall. Johnson escaped his Chevrolet and sat against the wall to gather himself.
"When you don't have control of the car like that, I just needed a second to sit down and catch my breath," Johnson said. "So now I'll go change my underwear and head home."
Both drivers walked away, went through the infield care center and reported no health problems.
They will return next week, and at least Johnson will be in the Cup Chase. After winning Sunday, Blaney will see him there.
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