There was a time earlier in the season when no one gave the Team Penske drivers a chance. The team was not performing at a high level and it was highly unlikely that any of their drivers would make it to the championship race. Fast forward to today, Ryan Blaney has won two out of the last five races and secured his place for the grand finale in Phoenix. As far as the driver of the #12 is concerned, there was a lot more involved than plain old luck that got him to where he is.

The Team Penske star emerged victorious in the final race of the round of 8 at the Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. Defeating the likes of Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr is never an easy feat, but Blaney executed his game plan to perfection. He will carry a lot of momentum into Phoenix next week.

Ryan Blaney slams media personnel; hails team for well-deserved victory

When an underdog starts performing well and beats the favorites, what happens quite often is people credit the person’s luck. While there can be elements of luck involved, no one really knows the hours of hard work that go on behind the scenes. So when a reporter suggested that Ryan Blaney had found Jimmie Johnson’s lucky horseshoe, the 29-year-old was not impressed.

“What’s been lucky about it? I don’t think anything has been lucky about it. Last three weeks we have been running amazing. We’ve run up towards the front in Vegas, led laps at Homestead, had a good shot to win and we won today. I don’t think there’s any luck that goes into this. Yeah, there may be lucky moments but I don’t think the horseshoe is really true at all. We’ve worked really hard to get to the point where we need to in speed and our group’s executed very good races and they deserve to be here,” the driver of the #12 said.

Team Penske has struggled throughout the season. Their defending champion, Joey Logano, was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. For them to have a driver in the championship race in Phoenix is indeed an incredible achievement. So naturally, Ryan Blaney acknowledged his team’s hard work in the post-race interview.

“You can interpret luck how you want but the performance…to bring fast race cars, race cars capable enough to win, and we’ve done that. I think that is the biggest thing apart from our successes. Everyone has done a good job of figuring out how to get better, where to be better, and then applying it and having fast cars,” the 29-year-old added.

Ryan Blaney might have been annoyed at the reporter in the post-race press conference, but on-track, he was an emotional man. Despite a season filled with struggle, the 29-year-old made it all the way to the championship race.

Read More – Martinville Analysis: Ryan Blaney & William Byron Punch Championship Tickets, Playoff Heartbreak for Denny Hamlin & Martin Truex Jr & Phoenix Outlook

Team Penske star cuts an emotional figure after monumental success

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In later restarts at Martinsville, Blaney was one of the most dominant drivers. After an intense battle for the lead against Corey LaJoie and Chase Elliott, the #12 took the lead with only 23 laps to go. The 29-year-old held off the competition and sped his way to his second race victory of the playoffs from that point. The thrill of the win was palpable in Ryan Blaney’s voice.

“It’s awesome. I grew up in High Point, not too far from here, closer to High Point, closer to Martinsville than Charlotte, so really cool. I have been wanting to win here for a long time. Just been super close for many years and awesome to close one out,” an emotional Ryan Blaney said in his on-track interview.

The Team Penske star will be going into the season-finale at Phoenix with a lot of confidence. Beating people like Kyle Larson and William Byron is by no means easy. However, Team Penske has proven that their car can match the HMS speed. How will the race turn out? Only time will tell.

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