AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Blaney poured his blood, sweat and tears into the closing laps of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season at Phoenix Raceway, but he was unable to pass Joey Logano, falling one spot short of becoming the first back-to-back champion since 2010.
“I was tired, man,” Blaney said in his post-race press conference. “I was driving hard and huffing and puffing and felt like I was going to pass out after the race. I was working hard trying to close the gap down. There were a lot of similarities to last week (at Martinsville) and just didn’t quite get there this week.”
Blaney was a fixture at the front of the field all day, but he lost precious ground on the crucial final restart with 54 laps to go.
By the time the dust settled, Blaney had fallen back to sixth while Logano stormed to the front.
.@Blaney knows he has to go if he's going to catch @joeylogano! pic.twitter.com/5llFVFQGAK
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 10, 2024
“Just got bottled up [on the restart],” Blaney said. “I took sixth. I thought the top was probably the better row, personally, and just got put in kind of a weird aero spot. A lot of guys washed up in front of me there through 1 and 2, and Joey kind of got clear, and then I only got to fourth.
“That was the outcome. Just Joey got to the lead pretty quick with how the restart went, and it worked out for him. By the time I settled in, I was fourth and had to work my ass off to try to get by the No. 5 and the No. 24 and run Joey down, and then I had nothing left. Everything was spent on that car.
“If I would have just been closer, if I would have come out second or so, I wouldn’t have had to work as hard and come from as far back and maybe would have had a little bit better shot.
Blaney’s biggest hangup while marching through the field was Kyle Larson, and the two drivers were involved in a fierce battle for third that lasted more than 20 laps. With Logano continuing to build a gap at the front of the field, frustration was running high within the No. 12 camp.
Ryan Blaney isn't happy that Kyle Larson racing him hard for third.
— Dustin Albino (@DustinAlbino) November 10, 2024
"What the f***, man? F*** these assholes" Blaney
"He's going to be a blockade" Tim Fedwea.
“Everybody put on defensive clinics today, everybody I tried to pass. Everybody did. So props to them for that,” Blaney joked sarcastically. “They did a great job.”
After the race, Larson — who finished fourth — said that he raced Blaney no differently than any other driver in the field.
“We’re seven days away from everybody bitching about 100% (effort), so I was giving 100%.”
While frustrated, Blaney did acknowledge that defensive driving — especially at a track where passing comes at a premium — is simply part of the game.
“It’s just what you have to do,” Blaney said. “I mean, the No. 5 did it to me, the No. 24 did it to me, the No. 22 did it to me. It’s just what you’ve got to do if you’re struggling, and it just buys you time. And it’s just part of the sport because it’s so powerful. The defensive line is so powerful of dirty air. You have to do it if you have a faster car behind you coming down in these moments.”
Blaney finally passed Larson and Byron and moved into second with about 25 laps to go, and he quickly erased a three-second deficit to Logano to be right with him for the final 10 laps.
There were moments where he got close to making a move on the No. 22, but all the hard work that Blaney put into catching Logano eventually took its toll, and he no longer had a strong enough car to move overcome the disadvantage of dirty air.
“I knew when I was running him down, I’m going to get there, but I didn’t have anything once I got there,” Blaney said. “Once you get in dirty air and they can start kind of guessing where you’re going, it just makes it that much harder.”
Along with the lackluster final restart, what didn’t help Blaney’s case throughout the day was that he never had a moment to truly take control of the field. He had an average running position of fourth, yet he only led 12 of the 312 laps and never had an opportunity to start running away from the competition.
“I wish I ever got control of the race,” Blaney said. “Like I never got the lead. I got the lead once … I got the lead at the end of stage two [and then] stage two ended.
“I felt like if I got the lead, I’m gone. But it just didn’t play out. Car was great, and Jonathan and those guys did a great job of getting us to where we needed to be.”
Despite the tough loss, Blaney still had praise for his teammate, who became just the 10th driver in NASCAR history to have three Cup championships to his name.
“Joey is one of the best ever I feel like, so he did an amazing job,” Blaney said. “[He] didn’t make any mistakes in the closing laps when I was kind of catching him.
“… That group does a good job of knowing what they need to do at what time. It’s a testament to Joey and (crew chief) Paul Wolfe and that whole team for really rising to the occasion and putting together a great race, and Joey in particular knowing what he needs to do behind the wheel to get it done.
“He’s just really good at his craft and understands what he needs to do, and he did it today. I don’t know if he had — I definitely think we had the fastest car, but he did a great job of understanding what he needed to do on the restart and getting out front and then holding on to the lead. That just shows all those things that he does really well.”
NASCAR will be back in just under three months, and every single team and driver will be chasing Team Penske. The team has now won three consecutive championships, and when the lights are brightest at Phoenix, Blaney and Logano have risen to the occasion time and time again.
About the author
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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Three titles in a row for FORD! Mr. H and CHev and Reverend Joe and Toyota must be wondering where the money went!
they want a refund