Ryan Blaney proving 2023 was no fluke with another multi-win season

Blaney earned his second victory of the 2024 Cup Series season in Sunday's Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway, joining Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and William Byron as drivers with multiple wins this season. All those drivers have three checkered flags and had he not run out of fuel at Gateway in June with a lap to go, Blaney would too.

The win is the 12th of Blaney's career and it gives him multiple wins in consecutive seasons, the first time he has achieved this feat. After winning one race apiece in each year between 2017 and 2020, Blaney won three times in 2021 and seemed to have opened the floodgates. However, he proceeded to go winless in 2022 despite performing at a very high level. Blaney would not earn his second win of 2023 until the playoff race at Talladega.

Understandably, Blaney's championship was thought of by some as simply a case of getting hot at the right time. However, he has sustained that level of driving throughout the current season despite some horrid luck and despite Team Penske often continuing to lack speed. Now, he is once again racking up the results.

The Pocono win was Blaney's fifth top-10 finish in the past six races and moved him up to seventh on the points leaderboard. That's significantly higher than either of his teammates, Joey Logano (14th) and Austin Cindric (19th) – both of whom have won this year but without consistently running near the front like Blaney has. Factoring in luck and equipment strength, Blaney has handily been a top-tier driver in 2024.

There are still 15 races remaining in which Blaney can add to his success and it's not unreasonable to think that when all is said and done, 2024 will go down as his best season yet. Even if he doesn't repeat as the Cup Series champion, Blaney has proven this year that he belongs with NASCAR's elites.