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Ryan Blaney Breaks Silence on Team Penske Indy 500 Scandal After Nashville Win 4 Ryan Blaney (via Imagn)

Kevin Harvick Bets on Ryan Blaney to Win Gateway Cup playoff race

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Aditya Pandya | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 3:23 PM ET

NASCAR will prepare to take the grand circus to the Worldwide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300 race. The Darlington race just ended with Chase Briscoe emerging victorious and walking out of the weekend with great points.

As such, with the upcoming Gateway Cup playoff race, eyes will be set upon Austin Cindric as he comes as the defending winner of the Gateway race. However, ex-NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick picks his favorite in Ryan Blaney to win the Illinois race.

Amongst the many other notable names in the playoff rounds, Chase Briscoe would aim to carry forward his winning momentum in the playoffs and walk out of the race with a great points cushion. Austin Cindric will attempt to re-achieve his feat at the Gateway Cup race from the previous year. Still, Kevin Harvick declares that he isn’t betting on either of the drivers.

Ryan Blaney emerged as one of the better drivers on the NASCAR grid after clinching two race wins and over ten top-five finishes. However, Blaney’s performance at Darlington was mediocre at best as he qualified in P12 and lost a couple of positions to ultimately finish P18. Still, Kevin Harvick banks his hopes on the #12 driver to bring home the victory at the Enjoy Illinois 300.

Kevin Harvick placed his bets on Ryan Blaney to achieve a turnaround in performance and win the Gateway Cup Race and turn his playoffs around. Harvick insisted that he would pick the ‘old faithful’ driver in Blaney to win in the upcoming race.

The #12 driver is currently having a +20 point cushion, but his victory would help him move to the round of 12 and potentially even further. Hence, a victory at this point would be a great deal for the Penske star.

I’m going to go with old faithful — Ryan Blaney
Kevin Harvick said on his Happy Hour podcast.

Ryan Blaney hopes to move past ‘kick in the nuts’ Darlington race

Ryan Blaney’s No.12 Ford was unable to keep up with the front of the pack at Darlington and causing him to lose crucial track positions. Blaney was stuck fighting in the midfield and couldn’t fight for a top ten, let alone a top five. Ultimately, the 31-year-old lost six positions on track and finished in P18, labeling the outing as a ‘kick in the nuts’.

As such, with the Gateway Cup Playoff race coming next, Ryan Blaney hopes to move past the Darlington race. Blaney retraced his outing at the Cook Out Southern 500 and insisted that it sucked not to finish in a position that he and his crew wanted.

The 31-year-old believed that everyone did their job right despite a ‘kick in the nut’ finish to the race. As such, eyes will definitely be set on the #12 Ford, and seeing how he bounces back from a mediocre outing in the past week.

It just sucks we don’t end up with a finish that we deserve. I thought we did a good job all day doing what we needed to do. It’s a kick in the nuts but you move on past it.
Ryan Blaney told NASCAR.com.

There are still two races left for Ryan Blaney to redeem himself in the playoffs round of 16 and move to the next round. Blaney is already looking strong for a promotion to the next round, but he needs to keep up the positive momentum. The #12 driver needs to ensure that he does not get involved in a wreck and have to race his end early or suffer from a DNF in the two races of the round of 16.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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