Blaney hoping lightning strikes twice after clutch Martinsville win
Yesterday at 11:30 AM
Ryan Blaney hopes championship lightning strikes twice after going back-to-back in the NASCAR Cup Series elimination race at Martinsville Speedway.
Blaney used his 2023 win to propel him to last year’s finale, where he earned his first Cup Series championship. On Sunday night, the Team Penske driver rose to the occasion in a must-win situation to earn his spot at Phoenix Raceway and try to make it two in a row.
"I definitely believe in momentum, and I believe in confidence and stuff like that," Blaney said. "I think this is the same as last year, right? You carry it into next week."
Blaney entered the weekend 38 points out of a transfer spot. The walk-off victory differed from a year ago because Blaney did not need to win at Martinsville to advance.
In the elimination era, no driver has won back-to-back Cup Series championships. The last driver to repeat as champion was Jimmie Johnson during his run of five straight championships from 2006 through 2010.
Blaney used a strong long-run car to chase down the leaders in the final stage of the Xfinity 500. The final restart occurred with 87 laps to go and Blaney was lined up 10th when the green flag flew.
He was inside the top five with 43 laps to go and moved to second place with 24 laps remaining. Blaney and Kyle Larson traded a few shots while battling for the position, and Blaney also ran over the curb in Turns 3 and 4 as he tried to get underneath the Hendrick driver.
The winning pass, on Chase Elliott, came with 14 laps to go. Blaney then drove away and went unchallenged to the finish.
Joey Logano, Blaney's teammate, was already locked into the championship race, as was Tyler Reddick from 23XI Racing. In addition to Blaney winning his way into the finale, William Byron took the fourth and final spot through points.
"Those guys had a couple of weeks to kind of prepare, but it’s like you can only prepare so much," Blaney said of Logano and Reddick. "When your car is built, your car is built. And we even have guys that are working on the car like it was going to the championship. Everyone does in Round 8, just in case it does happen, no matter what week it happens. People ask me, which (race) would you rather win? I don’t care; any of them to get to Phoenix.
"This team is really prepared to do it. Hopefully, we can carry that momentum that we had last year winning this race on to next week, as well."
Blaney and Logano have won the last two Cup Series championships. A triumph for either driver Sunday at Phoenix would make it three in a row for Team Penske.
