NASCAR Cup Homestead-Miami

Blaney had no warning before his second engine failure of the year

Another engine failure has plagued the No. 12 team early in the 2025 NASCAR Cup season, the second in two races and the third DNF from six starts.

Nick DeGroot

Nick DeGroot

Edited: Mar 24, 2025, 1:33 AM

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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Photo by: Michael Bush - Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Ryan Blaney was a dominant force throughout the NASCAR Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, leading most race laps — 124 of a possible 267 — and winning the opening stage.

The Team Penske driver was cruising in third place during the final stage of the race, just behind Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace as they battled for the race lead. But suddenly, a massive plume of white smoke billowed out the back of his No. 12 Ford Mustang, signalling a catastrophic engine failure.

Blaney's race was over just 60 laps shy of the finish, placing 36th of the original 37 starters.

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

“I didn’t have any warning," said Blaney afterwards. "It just laid over when I got back to wide-open down the front, and that was all she wrote. It just stinks. We had a really fast Ford Mustang. We led a lot of laps. We lost a little bit of track position there with some stuff on pit road, but got back to third and it was a great race between me and Bubba and Larson. I’m sure Denny [Hamlin] was gonna get back into it. 

"It was gonna be a heck of a battle the last 60 laps or so, but it just didn’t really work out for us. We’ll continue to keep fighting. I appreciate the 12 guys for just giving me a hot rod. It was an incredibly, incredibly fast race car today. We’ll keep our heads up. It’s just one of those things where it’s not really going our way right now, but the good news is we’re bringing fast cars, and that’s all you can ask for. We’ll keep on moving.”

Heavy smoke seen after Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford engine blow

Heavy smoke seen after Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford engine blow

Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

Strangely, this isn't Blaney's first engine blowup this year -- a failure that has become increasingly rare in modern NASCAR. Two weeks ago at Phoenix, a similar engine issue ended his day. A crash at Las Vegas last weekend means that Blaney now has a stretch of three consecutive DNFs after just six races.

Photos from Homestead-Miami - Race

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Fans

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NASCAR President Steve Phelps, John Hunter Nemechek, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota

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Kevin Harvick

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Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Joe Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing

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William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Cody Ware, Rick Ware Racing Ford

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Spire Motorsports pit crew member

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Justin Haley, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford, Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford, Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford, Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

NASCAR President Steve Phelps

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford

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Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Chevrolet, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

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Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Justin Haley, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Jeff Gordon, Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Heavy smoke seen after Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford engine blow

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2025 Homestead-Miami - Sunday

NASCAR Cup

50

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