Ryan Blaney continuing to blossom into one of NASCAR's modern superstars

Over the last three years, Ryan Blaney has found a way to consistently perform in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs when it matters the most. 

The latest example of that was his victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 21, which locked him into the penultimate round of the postseason — a win that was especially important given his finishes of 24th and 13th in the final two races of the Round of 12. 

Blaney is in the Round of 8 for the fourth consecutive season and is searching for a third consecutive Championship 4 appearance. If he makes it to Phoenix as one of the four drivers still in contention for the championship, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him listed as the title favorite. 

Ryan Blaney is having another good season

2025 has been another solid season for Blaney in a long line of them since he joined Team Penske in 2018. It’s the third consecutive season in which Blaney has at least three victories and has led 560 laps. One more top-10 finish would give Blaney 18 on the year, which would mark the third consecutive season in which he’s finished top-10 in half of the races on the Cup Series schedule. 

Perhaps Blaney’s biggest strength compared to his Round of 8 peers is the fact that none of the three tracks in the round — Las Vegas, Talladega and Martinsville — serve as a major weakness. In fact, one could argue that Talladega and Martinsville are Blaney’s best two racetracks. Las Vegas is somewhere in between, but it’s certainly not a liability for the No. 12 team. In 18 Las Vegas starts, Blaney has 10 top-10 finishes, and a Penske-affiliated car (Josh Berry with the Wood Brothers No. 21) won at Las Vegas in March. 

Talladega will be inherently chaotic as always, but Blaney is a master of finding his way through the chaos and leading the pack at the end of races. Blaney won the most recent superspeedway race at Daytona on Aug. 23, and he’s a three-time Talladega winner, including a clutch playoff win at the track in 2023. 

But it’s Martinsville where Blaney has really made his mark as of late. In both 2023 and 2024, Blaney entered the penultimate race of the season needing a victory to advance to the Championship 4. Both times, Blaney put together two of the most clutch performances that the fabled walls of Martinsville Speedway have ever seen.  

Blaney led a combined 177 laps in those victories, both of which propelled him to Phoenix. In 19 Martinsville starts, he has 10 top-five finishes, so even if he doesn’t need a win at Martinsville to advance to the Championship 4, a good points day is certainly within reach. 

Blaney has not had a flashy season like Denny Hamlin, who is tied for the series lead with five wins. He didn’t have to bounce back after a summer slump like Kyle Larson. Blaney made it to the Round of 8 by simply being a steady presence near the front of the pack, and that same characteristic could be what takes him to Phoenix as a championship contender for the third year in a row.