Ryan Blaney’s Title Defense Compromised by Fords’ New Mustang as Chevrolet Takes a Commanding Lead

Ryan Blaney just missed winning the Ambetter Health 400, trailing Daniel Suarez by a whisker-thin margin of 0.003 seconds. The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champ grabbed the lead after a restart with only five laps left. He held the top spot until the final lap, when Kyle Busch pulled off a bold move on the inside. This led to a boost from Bubba Wallace, turning it into a three-way battle for first as Daniel Suarez edged around Busch on the outside.

But even with a speedy Ford Mustang, Ryan Blaney couldn’t zoom past Suarez’s Chevrolet Camaro. Touching on this, a NASCAR insider recently mentioned how Chevy seems to be dominating the scene lately.

Chevys ahead of Ford and Toyota could be a potential reason for Blaney’s P2 finish at Atlanta

Just two races into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series, and it’s Chevy teams crossing the finish line first in both big races. William Byron and the Hendrick Motorsports crew snagged the Daytona 500, and then Daniel Suarez drove his Trackhouse Racing Chevy to victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Suarez clinched his second career win in a nail-biting three-way photo finish, just nosing ahead of Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. Chevy’s off to a roaring start, for sure.

It’s kind of surprising to see Chevy take home the trophies in the first couple of races. All the buzz in the offseason was about the other two big names [manufacturers], Ford and Toyota, who both rolled out new looks for their Cup Series cars. Ford unveiled its Mustang Dark Horse, and Toyota showed off a fresh design for the 2025 Camry. Meanwhile, the Chevy crews stuck with their trusty Camaro ZL1, a car they’ve been racing with for the last few years.

Chatting on PRN Live about how sticking with the same car model is paying off for Chevy, seasoned journalist Deb Williams shared some insight. “When you talk about Blaney you’re talking about the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse you’ve got a new Camry and Chevrolet is working with the same car that they’ve had since this current car came out. And I think it’s interesting where Toyota and Ford are still tweaking theirs that Chevrolet is definitely capitalizing on the fact that they know that car inside and out.”

Diving deeper into why a strong start to 2024 is crucial for Ryan Blaney to validate his Cup Series championship, Williams pointed out that snagging a win early would not just affirm Blaney’s championship wasn’t just some playoff magic, but it’d also be a big win for Ford as they usher in the new Mustang Cup Series car. “When you think about it, the fastest cars so far in the first two races have been Team Pensky; they just haven’t been first at the finish line.”

Plus, the impressive part? Chevy is currently dominating not just the Cup races but across all three NASCAR series.

Chevrolet sticking to its tried-and-true model

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Chevy’s been on a winning streak, clinching at least one victory in NASCAR’s national competitions every weekend since the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway last October. And here’s a neat tidbit: Chevy was on fire in Las Vegas last year, too. William Byron clinched a win in March, and Kyle Larson followed suit in October, making it a clean sweep for Hendrick in the Cup Series at Vegas.

Now, with the 2024 season two weeks in, Chevy’s rolling into Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a perfect record, ramping up the pressure for Ford and Toyota drivers as each week passes. And it’s not just the big leagues where Chevy’s making waves, with Daniel Suarez from Trackhouse Racing snagging a nail-biter of a win in a three-way dash to the finish at Atlanta and William Byron from Hendrick Motorsports taking home the Daytona 500 trophy.

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Chevy’s hot streak runs through all of NASCAR’s national series, marking the beginning of the year with wins in both the Xfinity and Truck Series too. Nick Sanchez and Kyle Busch brought home victories in the first two Truck Series races for Spire Motorsports, while Austin Hill from Richard Childress Racing nailed back-to-back wins at Daytona and Atlanta in the Xfinity Series.

This is the first time in NASCAR’s history that a single manufacturer has dominated the first two weekends across all series. With Chevy also clearing the board at Daytona, they’ve set a record as the only car maker to pull off this feat more than once, repeating their 2018 Daytona sweep.