LONG POND, Pa. -- Ryan Blaney was stationed in victory lane with a headset on as a guest pit reporter just the day before at Pocono Raceway.
But to get there on Sunday, on his own in the No. 21 Ford, he'd have to zip past two NASCAR champions with just 10 laps left.
That's exactly what he did.
Blaney passed Kyle Busch, held off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick, and won his first career NASCAR Cup race Sunday at the raceway.
That's career victory No. 99 for the Wood Brothers.
No. 1 for Blaney, well, that felt pretty good.
Blaney, 23, son of NASCAR driver Dave Blaney, grandson of dirt track star Lou Blaney, won for the first time in 68 career starts and partied again in victory lane. He was a guest reporter for Fox during the Xfinity race.
Blaney interviewed Xfinity winner Brad Keselowski in victory lane on Saturday as part of an all-driver broadcast by Fox. Keselowski finished fifth Sunday and returned the favor by crashing the broadcast and interviewed Blaney.
"What was going through your mind? You're in victory lane, man!" Keselowski said.
"I just didn't want to make a mistake," Blaney told Keselowski. "That would have been the worst thing we could do."
He was near flawless over those final 10 laps.
"He outran two guys today that are champions," Eddie Wood said.
It was a bit of a throwback for the Woods. Blaney's radio was busted and he had no communication with his team after about the first 40 laps.
"It figures the one race we don't have radio communication, we end up winning it," Blaney said. "Maybe we should turn the radio off more often."
The Wood Brothers have won at least one race in each of the last six decades, but none since Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 in 2011.
Blaney is the 18th driver to win a Cup race with the Wood Brothers.
Blaney joined Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Dillon as first-time Cup winners this season.
"We can finally add our name to that group," Blaney said.
Harvick, the 2014 champion, said he knows the new generation is coming on strong.
"These young guys have to get into victory lane to get these fans that don't like me and Kyle," he said. "The younger crowd has to win, and today Ryan was able to do that, so not only is it good for him, but it's good for the whole sport."
Blaney had a brief chat in victory lane with one of his best friends and fellow driver, Darrell Wallace Jr. Wallace finished a lap down in 26th in the first start by a black driver in the Cup series since 2006
The Wood Brothers share a technical alliance with team owner Roger Penske and "The Captain" would like to add Blaney to his roster, possibly next year.
Next year was a worry for another day.
"I like where I'm at," Blaney said.
Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson sat on the track to catch his breath after a fiery wreck late in the race. Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet was in flames and the cockpit billowed with smoke when his car struck the wall. Johnson was running seventh when he appeared to have an issue with his brakes that shot the car up the track and into the wall.
Last week at Dover, Johnson moved into a tie for sixth on NASCAR's list with 83 career victories.
"I can only speculate that I got the brakes too hot and when I went to the brakes they just traveled straight to the floor," Johnson said. "I didn't even have a pedal to push on. At that point, I threw it in third gear and I was just trying to slow it down."
Johnson, who had a form of skin cancer cut out of his right shoulder this week, diffused the wreck with humor.
"I just want to let my wife and kids and my mom know that I'm OK and I will go change my underwear and get ready to go home," he said.
Sports on 06/12/2017