After a splendid 2023 season, Ryan Blaney bagged his first Cup Series championship. The #12 driver is eyeing a back-to-back title to give Team Penske a third consecutive one after Joey Logano won it in 2022. However, Blaney’s playoff campaign has been full of ups and downs. At least one race in every round has been a DNF, starting with Watkins Glen in round one, followed by Talladega in the next.

Yet Blaney still managed enough points to keep progressing. However, the 30-year-old found himself in the elimination zone after a DNF in the round 3 opener at Las Vegas. This made the last races of the round a must-win for the Ohio native. He almost succeeded at achieving Homestead, but Tyler Reddick stood in the way, displaying his prowess. Post-race, Blaney was left disappointed as he opened up on what unfolded in that spectacular last-lap battle.

Ryan Blaney is “disappointed” as he misses out at Homestead Miami

Blaney, after a disappointing qualification, started the race in P20. However, the Penske driver was well aware of bringing his A game. The #12 quickly climbed positions, finishing 4th in stage 1. Blaney, showing consistency, stayed in the top 5 throughout the race, finishing 5th in stage 2. In the final stage of the race, he also led laps and looked poised for victory. But with seven laps to go, we saw some of the best racing in NASCAR in a long time.

On the final restart, Tyler Reddick led the pack; however, Denny Hamlin took on his own driver as he passed him from the outside to take the lead. Also, Ryan Blaney passed Reddick from the inside. With two laps to go, it became a Joe Gibbs Racing vs. Penske battle, as Ryan Blaney took the lead from Denny Hamlin.

However, the regular season champion wasn’t ready to give up. Reddick in the final lap took the inside line to first take Hamlin and then charge at Blaney in turn 3. The #45 passed the #12 with ease from the outside, taking the chequered flag and booking a spot in Phoenix. Here, take a look:

Blaney ended in P2, followed by Hamlin wrapping up the top 3. Naturally, Blaney was disappointed. He entered the race with -47 points below the cutline, and even with a P2, he has remained in the 7th position, reducing the deficit to -38. In the post-race interview, he dwelled on what happened on the track. Blaney said, “Obvious disappointment. I did not have a very good last lap. Man, I thought I got into (turn) 3 hard, and (Reddick) just blasted off in there and it stuck for him, which is pretty impressive. Hate to give one away like that; I don’t know if we gave it away. We got the lead back after losing on the restart. Yeah, the last lap did not play out for us, so definitely stinks. I appreciate everybody on the 12 team for bringing a really fast race car, had a great shot to go to Phoenix.”

Still, not all hope is lost, as Martinsville brings one final opportunity. And the #12 in 2023 won the race to progress to championship 4 and eventually win the title. Hoping to repeat that, Blaney said, “It will sting through the night, and look forward to Martinsville Tom morning. We try to forget things quick; I try to do that more and more…just move on to the next thing, get better and different, and focus on the next task; this team will do it. Just proud of them coming in and understanding what we needed to do; shame it didn’t work out; we had good fortune at Martinsville last year, and hopefully we can bring the same kind of speed and be in contention to win.” 

However, Martinsville is going to be a tough battle as everyone in the bubble will eye a good finish and hopefully the win.

Who has the strongest chances in Martinsville?

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After the Homestead race, here’s what the playoff picture looks like:

1. Tyler Reddick: Advanced
2. Joey Logano: Advanced
3. Christopher Bell: +29
4. William Byron: +7
5. Kyle Larson: -7
6. Denny Hamlin: -18
7. Ryan Blaney: -38
8. Chase Elliott: -43

The current standings are indicative of what a wild playoff it’s been so far. The bubble has three former Cup Champions (Larson, Blaney, Elliott) and one of the winningest drivers (Denny Hamlin—54 wins) among the active ones. There is no doubt Martinsville is going to be an intense battle.

• Well, in recent times, Blaney has the best-average finish at Martinsville. In the 7 races since 2021, his average finish has been 6.0, followed closely by Kyle Larson’s 7.0 and William Byron’s 7.7.
• However, amongst the three, William Byron has won the race twice in the next-gen era. Most recently, the spring race this year. While Kyle Larson won the race in the spring of 2023.
• As for Hamlin, he has an average finish of 11.1 since 2021 on the track. While he’s had good runs in the recent past, a win for him here came way back in 2019. Yet don’t count him out since out of his last four races here, three have been top-5s.
• As for Chase Elliott, he too has remained winless here since 2021, but his 9.7 average finish is better than Hamlin’s. In the Martinsville spring race this year, Elliott finished 3rd.
• Even for Bell, things can dramatically change at Martinsville. As the +29 point gap isn’t massive. Although he won here in 2022, he hasn’t had consistent performances at Martinsville. In the 9 races so far, he’s only managed one top-5 and two top-10s. His most recent finish on the track has been in 35th place.

Owing to this, it is hard to determine who would take the final two spots in Phoenix. As things are about to get intense in Martinsville, who do you think will progress to the next round?