NASCAR Cup Daytona
Blaney rides "roller coaster of emotions" to playoff berth
NASCAR’s persistence in getting in all of Sunday’s rain-delayed Cup Series regular season finale paid off handsomely for Ryan Blaney.
Jim Utter
Edited: Aug 29, 2022, 4:55 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
When the race – which was originally postponed from Saturday night – got halted again on Sunday after 139 of 160 laps, Blaney was multiple laps down and would have been the first out of the playoffs.
The weather situation appeared dire and it looked like that’s the way the race would end. But after waiting nearly 3½ hours, the skies finally cleared, the track was dried and the race resumed.
With so many cars damaged or wrecked out from a Lap 145 pile-up, Blaney was able to gain positions in the running order after the restart, while Martin Truex Jr. lost several due to damage to his No. 19 Toyota.
When the race ended, Blaney had three more points than Truex and became the only driver (of 16) to earn a playoff berth without a victory.
Any other season, Blaney season thus far – three poles, eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes – would be considered a success even without a victory.
But with 14 of the 16 playoff spots already claimed by drivers with wins, there was going to be little room for error for Blaney’s No. 12 team at Daytona.
Read Also:
- Austin Dillon wins wild Daytona Cup race, earns playoff berth
- Hamlin calls for "better officiating" after Daytona rain chaos
“We’re very fortunate. That’s for sure,” said Blaney, who did finish third in points in the regular season standings. “It was not a good day getting going and getting (in a wreck) early (Lap 31). At that point our fate was not really in our hands.
“All we could do is try to keep working on it and fix it to where we could make laps. Thankfully, we were able to get enough cars (passed) throughout the wrecks that we kind of just kept moving up and were able to get in.”
Blaney, who recently signed a multi-year contract extension with Team Penske, said the experience was far more stressful than he had wanted.
“Really throughout the race when we got on our wreck so early, you try to stay optimistic. You know, you never know what can happen,” he said. “Whether it’s a new winner or we can still try to beat (Truex) on points, you just try to stay optimistic and in the game.
“Just not think about the negatives. Even though it’s really easy to think about the negatives, you try not to. Definitely a roller coaster of emotions, and luckily it ended on a high for our group.”
Truex becomes the highest ranked driver in points (fourth) to miss the playoffs since the current format was adapted.
At the conclusion of the regular season, he had the most stage wins, 12 top-10s and the second-best average finish (13.2) of all drivers.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Austin Dillon wins wild Daytona Cup race, earns playoff berth
Next article Austin Cindric: "I totally expected to get drove through"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jim Utter
Erik Jones agrees to multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Erik Jones agrees to multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club
Goodyear's option tires at Richmond "were like Mario Kart with a star"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Goodyear's option tires at Richmond "were like Mario Kart with a star"
NASCAR: Austin Dillon move was "really close to crossing the line"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
NASCAR: Austin Dillon move was "really close to crossing the line"
Latest news
Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
19 min
Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season
Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
22 min
Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons
Bubba Wallace laments mistake after heartbreaking Phoenix loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
1 h
Bubba Wallace laments mistake after heartbreaking Phoenix loss
NASCAR is getting the championship finish it has pursued since 1992
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
1 h
NASCAR is getting the championship finish it has pursued since 1992
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe