CONCORD, N.C. -- Jumping into the crowd to celebrate a big race victory appears to have become a Team Penske thing.
Ryan Blaney held off William Byron to win the rescheduled Coca-Cola 600 on Monday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, giving team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the Memorial Day weekend's top races in the United States.
Josef Newgarden won a record-extending 19th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday for Team Penske. Like Newgarden, Blaney jumped out of his car and climbed into the crowd to celebrate the win with fans.
A few moments later, he tried to hold back tears with the weight of 59-race winless streak lifted from his shoulders.
"You start to get to feel like you can't win anymore," Blaney said. "We hadn't won in awhile and that can get hard. I want to thank the 12 [team] for believing in me."
Blaney took the lead from Byron on a restart and led the final 26 laps to win his first Cup Series race since the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona in August 2021.
Byron finished second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.
Truex said Blaney's emotions are understandable.
"He's under a lot of pressure to perform," Truex said. "They've won a lot of races since his last race. I'm sure he questioned himself through some point during that streak that he was on. He's had many opportunities to win and they've slipped away. Those are the hardest to think about so he's probably thinking, 'We finally did it.' "
It is the first time Team Penske has swept the Indianapolis-Charlotte doubleheader.
Blaney's win came just days before Penske hosts a weekend of racing on the downtown streets of Detroit. The return of racing in downtown Detroit is Penske's gift to the city he calls home. Then the 86-year-old heads to Friance for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the few events his teams have yet to win.
Monday's 5 1/2-hour race included five wrecks in the final 50 laps, including one with 26 to go when last week's All-Star race winner Kyle Larson spun and took out defending Cup champion Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell.
Blaney had passed Byron on the previous restart, and then got the jump on him again on the final restart and ran away with the checkered flag.
It was a rain-soaked weekend at Charlotte, which washed out practice and qualifying and postponed the race to Monday. That meant drivers began the race without ever having turned a lap in the NextGen cars at the 1.5-mile oval for the first time in event history.
More rain caused the race to be red-flagged for nearly an hour after 158 laps.
Defending race champion Denny Hamlin was left fuming after his day ended with a wreck on lap 186, prompting him to call for NASCAR to suspend its most popular driver Chase Elliott.
Hamlin claimed the Hendrick Motorsports driver intentionally wrecked him by hooking his right rear bumper following a dust-up earlier in the race.
"It's a tantrum and he shouldn't be racing next week," Hamlin said of Elliott. "Right rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. I don't care."
Elliott denied intentionally wrecking Hamlin in retaliation.
Hamlin wasn't the only one fired up.
During the rain delay television cameras caught Aric Almirola throwing punches at Wallace after the two exchanged words. Wallace refused to say what sparked the altercation, and said he wasn't surprised at what unfolded.
"When you walk around with two faces, that's what you get," Wallace said.
A pit crew member for Martin Truex Jr. works to dry the pit stall after earlier rainfall prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Kevin Harvick, right, shares a moment with his daughter, Piper, prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
William Byron (24) leads a pack of cars out of Turn 4 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
William Byron (24) competes during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Ryan Blaney, right, is embraced in Victory Lane by Harrison Burton after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Ryan Blaney smiles in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Ryan Blaney, center, celebrates on his car in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Ryan Blaney runs up the track to grab the checkered flag after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Ryan Blaney (12) competes during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
