NASCAR Cup Series: Ryan Blaney wins 2018 Bank of America Roval 400

Ryan Blaney earned a thrilling victory in the final race of the opening round of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the Bank of America Roval 400.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney was coming to the checkered flag in third place behind Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson to end the third and final race of the opening round of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the Bank of America Roval 400.

Johnson, however, spun out heading into the final turn of the final lap of the 110-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.28-mile (3.669-kilometer) Charlotte Motor Speedway roval in Concord, North Carolina. As a result, he made contact with Truex Jr., which sent Truex Jr. spinning into the wall.

This allowed Blaney, who started the race in ninth place, to double his career Cup Series win total and take the checkered flag to close out the round of 16 and secure his spot in the second round of the playoffs, the round of 12. His first career Cup Series came in the June race at Pocono Raceway last season.

Blaney ended up winning the race by 0.792 seconds in his #12 Ford over Chip Ganassi Racing’s Jamie McMurray, who was the highest finishing Chevrolet driver of the race in second place in his #1 Chevrolet.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

• NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
• NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
• NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
• NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
• NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500

Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch finished in third and fifth place in their #14 Ford and #41 Ford, respectively, and Hendrick Motorsport teammates Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott finished in fourth and sixth in their #88 Chevrolet and #9 Chevrolet, respectively.

JTG Daugherty Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger finished in seventh place in his #47 Chevrolet. Johnson ended up finishing behind him in eighth in his #48 Chevrolet. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Team Penske’s Joey Logano rounded out the top 10 by finishing in ninth and 10th in their #4 Ford and #22 Ford, respectively.

Truex Jr. ended up being the highest finishing Toyota driver of the race, but he finished in 14th place in his #78 Toyota.

The race featured a total of 10 lead changes among eight drivers. Aside of Blaney, who led 16 laps, seven drivers led at least one lap of the race. Those drivers were McMurray, Kurt Busch, Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Larson led more laps than anybody else in the field with 47 laps led. He won stage one and Larson won stage two.

The race also featured a total of eight caution flag periods, of which two took place as a result of the endings of stages one and two and six took place as a result of on-track incidents.

The caution flag period that changed the race began with eight laps to go. This caution flag period took place as a result of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. going off the track and making contact with the wall in turn one. A restart ensued, and it was the most chaotic restart of the race.

Keselowski, who was leading the race at the time, plowed into the turn one wall after overdriving the corner and misjudging his braking zone. He was hit by Larson, Paul Menard, William Byron and Kyle Busch. Several other drivers ended up spinning out.

Larson, who was the fastest driver of the race, ended up going from well about the round of 12 cut line to below the round of 12 cut line as a result of this wreck. However, he ended up barely making it into the round of 12 by virtue of a three-way tie with Johnson and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Almirola.

Larson was able to be involved in this tiebreaker by passing Gaunt Brothers Racing’s Jeffrey Earnhardt — after hitting the wall in the final turn of the race’s final lap, no less — just a few feet ahead of the finish line for 25th place. Almirola, who finished in 19th, also got into the round of 12 as a result of this tiebreaker, but Johnson did not.

Here are the full race results of the 2018 Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval.

The opening race of the second round, the round of 12, of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the round of 12, is the Gander Outdoors 400. This race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, October 7, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.