Ryan Blaney’s bid for a crucial victory in the Ryan Blaney Martinsville must-win race ended just one place short, as the Team Penske driver finished second in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon, dashing his hopes for a spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix. Despite advancing from deep in the field and leading a substantial part of the race, Blaney could not outduel William Byron, leaving the No. 12 team to reflect on what might have been.
Blaney’s Unexpected Ascendancy at Martinsville
Entering the weekend in Martinsville, Ryan Blaney was not widely considered the favorite after his previous performance at Talladega Superspeedway. However, his determination and quick progress up the standings surprised many, as he moved from a 31st starting position to lead 177 laps—his season’s best.
Midway through Sunday’s contest, Blaney powered his way to the front, giving Team Penske and their fans a glimmer of hope. Even veteran racer Jeff Gordon, with deep ties to Hendrick Motorsports, witnessed a shift as Blaney surged, while Byron and the No. 24 Chevrolet remained a formidable presence throughout the event.
As Blaney recalled,
“The 24 was the best car all night,”
—Ryan Blaney, NASCAR Driver. He continued,
“You don’t lead [304] laps without being the best car all night.”
—Ryan Blaney, NASCAR Driver.
Pivotal Battle with William Byron and Critical Moments
With the laps winding down under a long green-flag stint, William Byron never strayed from Blaney’s rear bumper. Navigating lapped traffic, Byron seized his opportunity, diving to the inside of Blaney and, with Ty Dillon up high, executed a bold three-wide pass. The lead change included contact between the two drivers as Byron pushed his way to the point position.
Jonathan Hassler, guiding Blaney from the pit box, remarked,
“I think we left [Byron] a lane,”
—Jonathan Hassler, Crew Chief. He elaborated,
“It looked like [Byron] ran the groove that he had been running most of the race. He tends to wash up to the middle in the center. I don’t know that contact was necessary, but it is probably to be expected here at Martinsville.”
—Jonathan Hassler, Crew Chief.
Blaney showed understanding of the aggressive racing, stating,
“That’s just two guys going for it,”
—Ryan Blaney, NASCAR Driver, and adding,
“I don’t blame him for taking that. I kind of lost momentum. I would have done the same thing, to be honest. I knew it was going to be tight. I tried to crowd as much as I could.”
—Ryan Blaney, NASCAR Driver.
Late Caution and the Decisive Restart
A late-race spin by Carson Hocevar with just 18 laps left brought the field back together, giving every car on the lead lap the chance to pit for fresh Goodyear tires. Byron’s No. 24 team emerged from pit road in first, while Blaney restarted second and chose the outside lane with only 11 laps to the finish.
Byron executed a near-perfect restart, surging ahead while Blaney slipped back. As the checkered flag waved, Blaney’s best efforts yielded only a runner-up finish, making him the highest-placed playoff driver to miss the Championship 4 who was in a must-win scenario at Martinsville.
Reflecting on the critical restart, Blaney commented,
“I entered side-by-side with him close to [him] and he worked through the middle, throttled up and drove away from me,”
—Ryan Blaney, NASCAR Driver, summing up his bid with, I’m not going to Phoenix.
Climbing from the Back: Blaney’s Early Race Surge
Despite the disappointing outcome, Blaney’s resilience was clear. Starting deep in the pack, he rapidly moved through competitors, gathering vital stage points in the early going and positioning himself well for the closing stages.
As he observed,
“Where we got to in the first run was encouraging, especially where we got through at the end of the first stage was encouraging,”
—Ryan Blaney, NASCAR Driver, and,
“But still got to keep up with the race track and it getting cooler and racing different people and stuff like that. Really proud of the effort. Really good job from where we started and got our car a lot better from practice.”
—Ryan Blaney, NASCAR Driver.
Penske Faces Playoff Elimination and Areas for Improvement
The results at Martinsville meant that both Ryan Blaney and teammate Joey Logano failed to advance to the Championship 4, spelling an end to Team Penske’s hopes for a fourth consecutive Bill France Cup. Only select organizations—Hendrick Motorsports, Junior Johnson and Associates, and Penske—have managed three straight titles, highlighting the difficulty and prestige of the feat.
Team Penske’s must-win situation at Martinsville was a product of missed opportunities earlier in the playoffs, including setbacks at Talladega and Las Vegas. Travis Geislar, the team’s competition director, reflected on the struggle,
“Definitely way more difficult for us than normal,”
—Travis Geislar, Competition Director, going on,
“This is usually a good round for us; three great tracks. Nothing really worked out the way we needed it to and you have to be perfect in this round to get through. You look at it and three [playoff] cars won, and you had one car get through on points. That is what you have to count on. We didn’t get the wins and we didn’t get the perfect points, so you’re on the outside looking in.”
—Travis Geislar, Competition Director.
Jonathan Hassler, the No. 12 team’s crew chief and a championship winner in the previous season, pinpointed areas for development, saying,
“We still have areas to work on and things to go and try and do better,”
—Jonathan Hassler, Crew Chief, adding,
“Obviously, the Gibbs camp has gotten a lot better. I think their intermediate program has been really good and we have to go to work over the winter and make that better, as well as the rest of our deficiencies.”
—Jonathan Hassler, Crew Chief.
Significance and Next Steps for Teams
With Team Penske out, organizations like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing now hold clearer paths toward the championship at Phoenix, as both have considered Penske to be a major threat had they advanced. For Ryan Blaney, his determined drive at Martinsville underscores both his skill and the razor-thin margins at the pinnacle of NASCAR, while Team Penske looks to regroup, analyze their areas for improvement, and work toward reclaiming a spot among the sport’s elite in future seasons.
