Blaney Showing Poise Under Cup Series Playoff Pressure

Ryan Blaney (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – To this point, Ryan Blaney has had a relatively quiet title defense, but he and the No. 12 team have continued to flash their championship composure in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

That steadiness could potentially set Blaney up for an early arrival into the semi-final round entering the largest wild-card event of the postseason.

Blaney kicked off the Round of 12 at Kansas Speedway last weekend with a fourth-place finish (and a stage win), following a gutsy late-race rally from an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel with 76 to go.

As a result, the reigning champion has now finished sixth or better in three of the first four playoff races, ranked second in the standings with a 28-point advantage over the elimination cutoff.

Results aside, what makes Blaney’s postseason run even more impressive has been his and the team’s resilience through adversity – specifically in the opening races of each round.

In addition to their rebound from Kansas, the 30-year-old rallied from a wreck in the final stage at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway to finish third during the kickoff to his eighth consecutive postseason campaign.

With that pair of performances in mind, the driver of the No. 12 could have the competition right where he wants them going into one of the most unpredictable tracks on the circuit in Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Talladega is feared by most, but it just so happens to be the place Blaney has seen the most Cup Series success with three career wins there.

On top of his resumé at the 2.66-mile track, the third-generation driver is revered as one of the best on drafting tracks, with an additional victory to his name at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway – Talladega’s sister facility – and more than 500 combined laps led on superspeedways.

“I enjoy speedway racing,” Blaney said. “I come to these racetracks looking forward to them. I feel like some people don’t do that. Some people come to these places and despise them, and that’s not a good mindset to have before you get out there. We put a lot of effort into, ‘How can I kind of refine my craft at these places? How can I do the best job behind the wheel of understanding when I need to go and be aggressive and when it's kind of time to be patient and chill out a little bit?’

“So, I look forward to them, (but) you understand that a lot of it’s out of your control,” he continued. “I do think we do a good job at these places. I don’t see it as an advantage, but at the same time, we do a good job as a group and (Tim Fedewa, spotter) and I do a good job of communicating through these races and just trying to put ourselves in the best spot. That's really all you can lay back on.”

Blaney’s most recent win at Talladega came in the playoffs last year, which marked his third consecutive top-two finish at the Alabama oval. His 284 laps led there are fourth-best in the series, however he has 10 less starts than the drivers ranked ahead of him.

He also bests the second-best Talladega average in the Cup Series among competitors with 10 or more starts at 14.8.

Although Blaney placed 20th at Talladega earlier this year, there is something to be said about the dominance of Team Penske on drafting tracks in the Next-Gen era – especially this year.

Austin Cindric led the most laps and won a stage in the most recent drafting race at Atlanta, while Blaney finished third with a stage win and Joey Logano emerged victorious.

A Team Penske driver has led the most laps in three of the five drafting races this season and all three drivers have combined for 35 percent of the laps led between the trio of tracks on the circuit.

Moreover, Logano is a two-time winner on drafting tracks since the seventh-generation car was introduced in 2022, while Blaney and Cindric have one such win apiece.

It could all point toward the beginning of Blaney’s biggest push yet toward a second straight Cup Series title, something that no driver has achieved since Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson won five championships in succession from 2006-’10.

Blaney will seek his fourth win at Talladega Superspeedway when the green flag for the YellaWood 500 waves Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.