Toyota has engine problems and time and again it has derailed their driver’s chances to clinch races and titles. Only last year, Denny Hamlin and the #11 team found themselves on the bitter end of Toyota’s engine problem. His engine on the No. 11 Toyota Camry blew up at Sonoma, and then they reused the Bristol race win engine without NASCAR’s content. He lost 10 playoff points and his crew chief was brandished a $100,000 fine. Not to forget Christopher Bell’s ran into similar troubles at Gateway.

Now, a similar dark cloud seems to have followed Ryan Blaney into the 2025 season, with the defending Cup champion suffering his second engine failure in three races at Homestead. The eerie similarity has left both fans and analysts questioning if Ford’s powerplants are becoming their Achilles’ heel.

This mechanical nightmare marks an unprecedented low for Blaney. For the first time in his Cup career, he’s endured three consecutive DNFs: Phoenix (engine), Las Vegas (accident), and now Homestead (engine).

Running strong in P3 and battling with Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson, Blaney’s No. 12 Ford suddenly erupted coming off Turn 4. The Ford Mustang, which had shown remarkable pace throughout the day, became yet another statistic in what’s following a troubling pattern of Toyota’s darkest mechanical days.

“Nothing. I didn’t have any warning,” Blaney explained afterwards. “It just laid over when I got back to wide open down the front and that was all she wrote.” The frustration was evident as he added, “Kepp our head up, it’s just one of those things where it’s not really going our way right now, but the good news is we’re bringing fast cars.”

The failure is shocking. Particularly given Ryan Blaney’s previous consistency at Phoenix. Here he’d never finished worse than fifth during the NextGen era. But this year’s engine expiration welcomed the disappointment.

The timing mirrors Toyota’s last year’s crisis when engine failures derailed Hamlin and Bell’s title charge.

Fan Theories Ignite as Penske Audience Seeks Justice for Blaney

In 2024, Toyota faced a spate of engine issues across its Cup Series cars, prompting investigations into mechanical causes. TRD General Manager Tyler Gibbs admitted concerns, stating inconsistency in the quality of our valve springs. “Dominant cars suspiciously blowing up in an era where engine failures rarely ever happen, Hmmmmmm,” posted one skeptical fan, just after Blaney’s engine burst, echoing sentiments from Toyota’s troubled era when conspiracy theories ran rampant.

Another fan noted the spectacular nature of the failure: “It’s blowing up faster than a #SpaceX rocket owned by @elonmusk.”  The dramatic comparison shows how the smoke emitted from the No. 12 car was like a Space X rocket launching in the sky. The dashcam on the No. 24 car highlighted the cloud of smoke that covered the racetrack. It was a scene from the Cars movie, where drivers had to thread the needle through smoke and wrecks.

Engine failures have become increasingly rare in NASCAR’s modern era, making such dramatic breakdowns all the more suspicious to dedicated fans. So much so that Mechanics watching were equally intrigued after the Blaney incident, with one commenting, “Been a while since one blew up that big. I would love to see @Team_Penske, @FordPerformance or @roushyates share a picture of the destruction.”

Some fans even saw divine intervention: “NASCAR tried to fix the win for him and god took over!” The Homestead heartbreak continues for the Blaney, last year he was within touching distance of a victory, but Tyler Reddick’s slingshot move stole the show. And while the dates have changed this time around a mechanical malfunction derailed his bid to contend for a win.

Amidst the heartbreak, there were a few fans who were confident that the No. 12 team would break the hoodoo at Martinsville. We all know how last year’s playoff race played out at the racetrack and Blaney is fond of this short track in particular. “Most dominant car all day such a shame on to next one at Martinsville where I know he can win at.”

As Blaney and Team Penske regroup, the championship team faces mounting pressure to solve reliability issues that threaten to derail their title defence before it truly begins.