On Sunday, Tyler Reddick became the next driver to lock himself into the Championship 4. This follows on the heels of Joey Logano locking himself into the Championship 4 last weekend. Truthfully, the Cup race at Homestead-Miami ended up becoming a dogfight between Reddick, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Blaney.

In the final few laps, it looked like it could either be Hamlin or Blaney, as they dueled for the lead. However, Reddick was just lurking in the background, ready to strike. On the last lap, with Reddick riding high on the outside wall, Blaney took the middle lane, leaving an opening for Reddick to slip through and surge past in a bold high-speed move out of Turn 4.

“It stings,” Blaney admitted after losing the lead he had held for 38 of the final 78 laps.

The final restart saw fierce competition among Reddick, Blaney, and Denny Hamlin, who initially grabbed the lead with a daring four-wide move after Kyle Larson spun out. Blaney regained the lead on Lap 266, but Reddick’s late burst thrillingly sealed the win.

As the defending champion looks into turning around his luck in Martinsville, the first ever 7-time NASCAR champion, Richard Petty, broke down that final lap and pointed out what Ryan Blaney could have done better to defend his position.

Answering the question, “Blaney had the lead on the last lap on the high side. Why would he pull down to the middle and give Reddick the high  line?” on @therichardpetty’s Instagram, Petty said, “He thought he could run faster. In other words, when he went into that corner, he thought, ‘This is the fastest groove for me.’ He didn’t get out of the way of the #45. He has done the very best that he knew, and he thought that groove would make him get through the corner quicker than the #45 car. It didn’t prove that way, but that #45 guy he went in that third corner faster than he’d ever went, I’ll put it that way.”

The bottom line is that on the day, Blaney went for the strategy that he thought worked best. According to Petty, the #12 driver felt that the middle lane was the fastest for him. Sadly for the Penske driver, Reddick sailed around him on the outside lane, almost like a slingshot. But it looks like the Penske driver is not sitting over the bad weekend. He said, “I try not to stew over these things, I just try to learn from them and be like, ‘Well, this probably would’ve been the best route to do, and maybe if you’re in that spot next time, do that.’ But try not to sit around and let it eat me because then you’re gonna go crazy.”

Meanwhile, all that Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin can do is hope that Martinsville will help them reach the Championship 4. What works in both drivers’ favor is that both of them have recorded wins at Martinsville in the fall. However, it is worth mentioning that Blaney’s win was more recent, as Hamlin’s wins came in 2009 and 2010.

Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin’s chances of making the final 4

If we’re being completely honest, it will be difficult for them. Especially considering the competition that the duo are up against. Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney are just two out of six drivers vying for two spots in the championship finale. Furthermore, their opponents are no slouches either, as they face the Hendrick trio of Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Chase Elliott. Even Christopher Bell is not to be underestimated, having made the final 4 in consecutive years.

However, Ryan Blaney is confident, as post-race he was heard saying, “Tomorrow morning, we’ll re-stack and get ready for Martinsville, I was super excited about the speed we had today. I mean, I can’t complain about that. Honestly, last week’s speed, too, was great before we got in the wreck. So hopefully, we can bring that same speed to Martinsville.”

• Currently, C. Bell and Byron sit in the transfer spots with one race to go.
• Hamlin and Blaney are 6th and 7th, respectively, and will either have to win or outscore their rivals.

Truthfully speaking, Denny Hamlin could stand a better chance because he is 18 points away from the cutoff. On one hand, Hamlin can go as an owner/driver fan, cheering for the 23XI driver, Tyler Reddick, while on the other, he could pull off the Martinsville race and fight alongside the Reddick and fight for the championship. Sharing his concerns, he added, “I’m still very very bummed and dejected. Certainly it’s the balance that I have, you know, I’m still locked in you know here for the next seven days to make sure that I put my best efforts forward to to go win Martinsville.”

Of course, a win would be the icing on the cake, but even if he doesn’t, as long as he outscores the others, it should work. Though to be honest, the picture will be clearer once qualifying wraps up. All that is left is to wait until the Martinsville fall weekend rolls by.