NASCAR: The penalty that cost Ryan Blaney a second championship

As a passionate NASCAR fan with decades of racing under my belt, I can’t help but feel a tinge of bittersweet sympathy for Ryan Blaney. Three years in a row, he’s been so close to victory at Phoenix Raceway, yet just out of reach when it comes to the ultimate prize. This year, it was Joey Logano again who denied him a second title, but had it not been for a penalty totally unrelated to Blaney, this could have been his moment.

For three consecutive seasons, Ryan Blankey from Team Penske ended up in second position at Phoenix Raceway, concluding the NASCAR Cup Series. However, each of these placings had a significantly distinct impact on the overall results of the entire racing season.

2022 saw Joey Logano outpace him at the finish line to secure his second title. However, Blaney didn’t make it to the Championship 4, so he wasn’t vying for the championship.

In the year 2023, Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing Team edged him out at the finish line. However, Chastain wasn’t eligible for the championship, making Ryan Blaney the first driver in the Championship 4 era (spanning from 2014 up to now) to secure a title, even though he didn’t win the championship race itself.

Last Sunday saw Logano outperforming Blaney once more, and remarkably, both racers were eligible for the competition. Consequently, Logano secured his third title, while Blaney missed out on the chance to become the first back-to-back champion since Jimmie Johnson achieved five consecutive titles from 2006 to 2010.

Yet had it not been for a penalty totally unrelated to Blaney, he would have won a second title.

14 days before the championship race, Logano was ousted at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, as Tyler Reddick from 23XI Racing overtook him for the eighth and final spot in the round of 8. The predicament was that Alex Bowman from Hendrick Motorsports also progressed, but he was later disqualified because his No. 48 Chevrolet was discovered to be underweight.

Due to Bowman’s penalty, he was eliminated from the round of 8, creating a chance for Logano. Once more, the driver of the No. 22 Ford found himself with the prospect of extending his record to six advances to the Championship 4 in even-numbered years.

In his initial chance to progress, he did so triumphantly, kicking off the Round of 8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, thereby qualifying for the finale where the winner takes all.

If Bowman hadn’t been penalized, Logano would have been disqualified, and the Championship 4 would have included Blaney, Reddick, William Byron from Hendrick Motorsports, and Christopher Bell from Joe Gibbs Racing. Unfortunately, it was Bell who faced elimination in the round of 8.

On Sunday, I snatched a runner-up position, which put me above Reddick, Byron, and Bell. If it weren’t for Bowman’s penalty that happened about four weeks back, I could have defended my championship title for another year straight.

One often-criticized aspect of the current playoff format, apart from the evident truth that it doesn’t necessitate drivers to perform at their peak every week, is that numerous seemingly unrelated incidents become interconnected over a short period due to having only three races in each round prior to the championship finale.

We observed two manufacturers attempting to influence the result of the Martinsville Speedway’s round of 8 finale in a rather obvious manner, making the situation seem almost comical or absurd.

However, this unique combination of seemingly irrelevant events seems to cause pain that exceeds what is typically expected.

If that late-race penalty hadn’t been called against a driver who had no connection to me (Blaney), I would have clinched the 2024 championship. But here I am, left in the dust as Logano, whose average finish as a Cup Series champion is historically poor at 17.1, is basking in his victory.

The upcoming 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season kicks off at the 67th edition of the Daytona 500, which takes place on February 16, a Sunday. You can catch all the action live from Daytona International Speedway, broadcasted by Fox.

2024-11-14 17:32

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