Missed opportunity. That’s how Ryan Blaney will view the penultimate Round of Eight playoff race at the Straight Talk Wireless 400. The defending Cup Series winner narrowly missed out on his third victory of the season. However, more importantly, he misses a spot in the Championship 4 after a last-lap heartbreak. When the checkered flag was waved at Homestead-Miami, only 0.24 seconds separated him from the eventual winner, adding to the Team Penske driver’s frustrations.

With just one race to go at Martinsville Speedway, favorites Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney have their work cut out for them to keep their title hopes alive. Will the pair somehow remain in contention for the title at Phoenix Raceway later this year?

Ryan Blaney regrets giving Tyler Reddick an opening

It seems like whatever could go wrong has gone wrong for Ryan Blaney this season. The No. 12 Ford Mustang driver ran out of gas during the final lap of the Enjoy Illinois 300 and lost by 0.003 to Daniel Suarez at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February. Going into the playoff race in Homestead, the Team Penske driver was 30 points below the elimination cutline, knowing that nothing but an excellent result could keep his championship hopes alive. However, despite leading the race until the last lap, Tyler Reddick overtook the 30-year-old in the final turn, forcing Blaney to finish runner-up.

Ryan Blaney was visibly disappointed while speaking about the outcome of the race with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The 30-year-old said, “Last restart, we’re trying to get the lead back from the No. 11 and getting it for a lap, and then I don’t know, the last lap I probably, definitely could have done some things different. I just didn’t think the No. 45 was gonna be able to enter that fast at the fence and I thought I drove it in really deep like where I did to try to slide up and then, gosh. He was just out of my outside really quick so yeah. I wish I could have done a couple of things different but proud of the effort. It just stinks to lose em’ like that.”

Despite starting the race in 20th place, Blaney drove like a man possessed at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway, showing a lightning-fast pace in his No. 12 Ford Mustang. The Team Penske driver climbed 16 positions to finish fourth by the end of Stage 1 and dropped down to fifth after 165 laps had passed. As the race crept towards its conclusion, it looked like a two-horse battle between the Ohio native and Kyle Larson, until the Hendrick Motorsports driver spun, resulting in a caution.

Denny Hamlin, who was also looking for a result at Homestead-Miami managed to capitalize on the opportunity to go wheel-to-wheel against Ryan Blaney in the closing laps. However, the Team Penske driver made a big mistake while navigating the final turns from the middle of the track, which allowed Tyler Reddick to build on his momentum from the outside lane to snatch a victory at the crucial moment. Despite finishing runner-up, the 30-year-old is seventh in the playoff standings, 38 points below the elimination cutline going into the final race at Martinsville.

Hamlin felt helpless at the Homestead-Miami outcome

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Denny Hamlin must have felt a wave of bittersweet emotions when the checkered flag was waved at Homestead-Miami. On one hand, 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick had made it to Championship 4 for the first time in his career, but it came at the expense of his title hopes. Having qualified fourth at the Straight Talk Wireless 400, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran was in contention all race, securing a Stage 2 victory as well. However, despite leading the race with just two laps to go, the 43-year-old couldn’t keep up with Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick’s pace, forcing him to settle for a third-place finish.

Reflecting on the race’s result, Hamlin told Frontstretch’s Daniel McFadin, “Well, I’m not really sure [what I could have done differently]. [I] tried to cover all lanes, but just couldn’t quite get off the corner as good as I needed to there on that short run. Short run wasn’t my specialty all day, obviously.” The Florida native took responsibility for the race’s outcome by saying, “Either way, controlling the race with two to go, you got to try to find a way to finish it. Just didn’t.”

With one race to go at Martinsville Speedway, Denny Hamlin is in must-win territory going into the Xfinity 500. As things stand, the veteran racing driver is sixth in the driver standings, 18 points below the playoff cutline going into the short track. Despite the odds being stacked against him, the 43-year-old isn’t giving up anytime soon, going on to say, “I mean, yeah, it’s another opportunity and certainly you’re not out of it until they throw the checkered flag at Martinsville.”

Do you think Denny Hamlin will make it to Championship 4? Let us know in the comments!