Defending Champion Throws In the Towel After Kyle Larson’s Commanding Finish at Las Vegas

Reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney has had a decent start to the 2024 campaign, but he is yet to be on Victory Lane after the first 3 races of the season. The Team Penske star was fairly happy with how things went in Las Vegas but acknowledged that he had no answer for race winner Kyle Larson’s pace and race craft on the day. However, there is optimism for the future as the season rolls on.

Yung Money secured his first win of the season as he booked his place in the playoffs early on, taking a lot of pressure off his shoulders. 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick finished P2 as Blaney contended with a P3 finish. Going into next weekend’s race in Phoenix, he will be looking to be the one doing the burnout after the event and booking his place in the last 16.

Ryan Blaney acknowledges Toyota and Chevy’s advantage over Ford in Vegas

P3 was quite an impressive result for Ryan Blaney, who started the race in P15. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is definitely not an easy place to race, and higher-than-normal wind speeds made things a bit tricky for everyone as well. However, the #12 car did not seem to have a shoddy moment on track throughout the event, and that is something its driver was quite proud of after the event.

Speaking to the media after getting out of his car, the reigning Cup Series champion acknowledged that the Chevrolets and the Toyotas were quite fast on the day, perhaps a bit more than Ford. While he did believe that his manufacturer’s cars also had a good pace on the day, there was still some work to be done to challenge its competitors next week in Phoenix.

“Thought we got better all day, which is good. Obviously, I wish we had more but we got better all day, like from where we started, we qualified. I thought we ended kind of our best probably so we were able to get in front of the #19 and the #11 who was pretty good, the #54. Didn’t have anything for the #5 or #45 all day but proud of the effort. Hopefully, it’s a good learning experience going forward,” the reigning Cup Series champion said.

“Chevys are still fast, Toyotas are still fast and Ford, we had a good showing today but we still have a little bit of work to do,” he added. Towards the end of the race, the Team Penske star was engaged in battle with Ross Chastain, the man who did not let him get to Victory Lane in his title-winning race last year. The Trackhouse Racing star was as sarcastic as it gets after the race as he spoke about their tussle in Vegas.

Is it a rivalry in the making since the 2023 finale race?

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On several occasions, the driver of the #1 tried to get around the #12, but the reigning Cup Series champion maintained a good defensive line throughout and thwarted any attempt his competitor made to pass him. That’s exactly what Ross Chastain did to Ryan Blaney in the season finale last year, and the latter complained about it the whole race. This time, it was Chastain’s turn to take a jab.

In the post-race interview, the driver of the #1 said of Blaney, “It was pretty cool to see his evolution with the air blocking. I was proud of him.” The update was shared by Bob Pockrass on his X handle, and Ryan Blaney was quick to respond with sarcasm of his own as he tweeted a Star Wars GIF that said, “It’s ironic.”

It seems like there is a bit of a rivalry brewing between the drivers of the #12 and #1 cars and fans are here for it. It will be interesting to see them have a tussle again next week in Phoenix, the same track where all of the drama between the two began in the last race of 2023.

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