Ryan Blaney is used to being the underdog.
It was, after all, only a year ago that nobody thought of the 30-year-old, third-generation racer as a serious contender for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
As history will forever proclaim, Blaney and Team Penske caught fire in the playoffs, making a run that saw him win two of the final six races and capture the Cup Series title with a second-place finish at Phoenix.
Blaney’s victories at Talladega and Martinsville can be described as the defining moments of Blaney’s championship run, as they lifted him to the Round of 8 and the Championship Four, respectively, and also made it known to the garage that he wasn’t to be taken lightly.
A year removed from the greatest postseason run of his career, Blaney is attempting to defend his championship, though a rough-and-tumble race at Las Vegas — the first race of the Round of 8 — has Blaney behind the eight ball as the circuit heads to Miami.
A lap 89 crash at Las Vegas incurred suspension damage on Blaney’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse, forcing the defending champ to ride around for the rest of the afternoon with a wounded vehicle.
After aiding teammate Joey Logano in his efforts to win at Las Vegas, Blaney is hoping some good fortune of his own befalls the No. 12 team.
Blaney currently sits seventh in the playoff standings, 47 points out of the fourth and final transfer spot. While two perfect races could see Blaney make the Championship Four by virtue of points, the simple path to Phoenix is the one that cuts through victory lane.
The good news for Blaney? History is on his side, as 2023 also saw Las Vegas’ playoff race become a whirlwind of emotions for the High Point, N.C., resident. His sixth-place finish was originally wiped out by a disqualification — until the disqualification was rescinded later in the week.
Blaney’s last visit to the Homestead-Miami Speedway saw him finish runner-up to Christopher Bell, following a wild race in which Kyle Larson hit the sand barrels on pit road and Denny Hamlin’s title hopes ended after a steering issue sent him into the wall.
And then came the half-mile paperclip of Martinsville, where Blaney put on a clinic en route to a win that punched his ticket to the Championship Four.
It just so happens that Blaney is in need of another crucial victory at either Homestead or Martinsville to keep his title hopes alive.
Prior results aren’t guarantees of future success in sports, but Blaney has an opportunity to give fans deja vu with another clutch stretch of races.
Blaney’s back may be against the wall, but that might mean he has his competitors exactly where he wants them: with Blaney present as nothing more than an afterthought in the chase for the championship.
After all, it was from that exact position that Blaney came from last year when he forever etched his name in NASCAR history.
–Samuel Stubbs, Field Level Media