Ryan Blaney reacts to dominant effort at New Hampshire, holding off Josh Berry late at New Hampshire

Team Penske was the team to watch coming into Sunday’s Round of 12 opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. That turned out to be the story over the course of 301 laps, as Ryan Blaney led 116 laps and took the checkered flag.

At times, Blaney found himself stuck in traffic. He found his way back to the front late, and he was tasked with fending off a hard charging Josh Berry in the closing laps. Berry gave it his best, but Blaney did enough to stay in front and win his third race of the 2025 season.

“That was probably the hardest 20 laps that I drove,” Blaney told Marty Snider of NBC Sports. “I was trying to kind of bind my stuff and kind of pull Josh a little bit and he really started coming. I started to get super free; it was all I could do to hold him off and trying new lanes. So, it was good racing and clean racing, appreciate Josh for not throwing me the bumper when he could have.

“What a cool day, what a cool weekend. Super fast car all weekend, so can’t believe the 12 boys, they’re unbelievable. Really strong throughout the playoffs and it’s great to get a win the first race of this round.”

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From the moment the cars came off the hauler, it felt like this was a Penske weekend. They followed that up with an outstanding showing in qualifying, with Joey Logano and Blaney starting the race on the front row.

Only Logano led more laps than Blaney at New Hampshire. He was out front for 147 laps, finishing fourth. It was Berry who ended up having the best shot to beat Blaney. Berry, knocked out of the postseason the week prior at Bristol Motor Speedway, drives for Wood Brothers Racing, which shares a technical alliance with Penske. He raced Blaney, a playoff driver, clean and came away with a P2 result.

“I expect him to go out and try to win the race,” Blaney said. “I knew he wasn’t gonna lay over for me, but I didn’t think I was ever gonna get the bumper. We raced just super clean. I would do the same thing if I was him, right, and try to go win the race. That’s what this thing is all about. For a while, man, it was stressful, and I’m worn out. But overall, what a cool weekend.”