LOUDON, NH – Ryan Blaney held off fellow Ford driver, Josh Berry to claim the checkered flag and the lobster at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Blaney started on the front row alongside his Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano to start the Mobil 1 301, and throughout the day, the duo dominated the opening race of the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Playoffs. In the closing laps, Blaney had to outrun Wood Brothers Racing’s Berry, who has a technical alliance with Team Penske. The win marks his first at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and now he will advance to the Round of 8.

“That was good racing and clean racing,” Blaney said. “I appreciate Josh (Berry) for not throwing me the bumper when he could have.

“What a cool day. What a cool weekend. Super-fast car all weekend. Can’t believe the 12 boys, they’re unbelievable. Really have been strong through the playoffs. It’s great to get a win, first race of this round.”

Berry finished runner-up; however, he had quite an exciting day. In Stage 2, he spun off the nose of Shan van Gisbergen to bring out the third caution of the day. Berry then had to avoid all the chaos that took place throughout the field in the 301-lap race. The finish is a breath of fresh air due to having crashed in all three races in the Round of 16.

“It was definitely an awesome day,” Berry said. “Had a really good car. Hat’s off to Ryan at the end. All of our cars were really strong, and Ryan did a great job there. I was honestly surprised. I was a little worried when he got around me as quick as he did, but it seemed like it leveled out, and I was able to keep him honest at least at the end.

“All in all, Miles, his whole team done a great job. We were down a set of tires after the spin. So I think it kind of forced our hand.”

William Byron finished third in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet. He had been quiet in the opening round of the Playoffs, but he earned enough points to advance. On Sunday, Byron’s finish marked the first time he had ever finished inside the top-five at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“It’s no breathing room because you’ve got to go out and execute every week,” Byron said. “You’ve got to keep your foot on the gas in this deal. Hopefully we can go to Kansas and be up front contending for a win. Then you go to the ROVAL, and you can kind of have that one where you can kind of reset.

“You’ve just got to take it one week at a time. Definitely wasn’t expecting to be this strong here. Hopefully we can go to Kansas and be really good.”

Logano and Chase Elliott, who started 27^th rounded out the top-five. Bristol winner, Christopher Bell finished sixth, followed by Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain and Chase Briscoe.

Blaney won Stage 1, and Logano won Stage 2.

There were 14 lead changes among seven leaders. Logano led a race high of 147 laps, and Blaney led 116 laps.

The caution came out on eight occasions for 45 laps.

The largest crash occurred on Lap 119, when drivers tried to make it five-wide exiting Turn 2. The mayhem ignited when Brad Keselowski made it five-wide heading into the turn. He bounced off the inside wall, hit Gisbergen and ignited a chain reaction that collected eight drivers.

On Lap 149, John Hunter Nemechek went for a scary ride when he crashed in Turn 3. He got loose underneath Riley Herbst and nailed the outside wall. Nemechek’s car hit so hard it got airborne.

With the first race of the Round of 12 complete, Blaney leaves with the point lead, followed by Byron (+47), Larson (+41), Bell, (+29), Denny Hamlin (+27), Logano (+24), and Elliott (+14), and Briscoe (+12). Currently on the outside looking in to the Round of 8 is Chastain (-12), Austin Cindric (-19), Tyler Reddick (-23) and Bubba Wallace (-27).

The NASCAR Cup Series will visit Kansas Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 28, for the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET. Live coverage will broadcast on the USA Network at 3 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Trish McCormack/TheFourthTurn.com