NASCAR Cup Kansas
Ryan Blaney: “I probably would have scared” Kyle Larson with a few more laps
Blaney was closing fast at the end of Sunday's NASCAR Cup race at Kansas, and believes five more laps is all he needed to make a real run for the win
Nick DeGroot
Edited: May 12, 2025, 2:45 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images
If there is one driver notorious for being able to find speed over the course of a long run, it's 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney. The final run at Kansas was easily the longest of the day, which played right into his hands. But despite that, he still needed it to be a little bit longer.
Team Penske entered the weekend trying to win three consecutive races after Austin Cindric's victory at Talladega and Joey Logano's win at Texas. The freshly-shaven, now beard-less Blaney was the man leading that charge for 'The Captain' at Kansas, but he was running fifth and over five seconds behind race leader Kyle Larson with around 20 laps to go.
But this is where Blaney showed his strength, quietly marching forward and nearly taking second from Christopher Bell right at the finish line. He was also within a second of Larson as he captured the checkered flag, simply running out of time while posting the fastest laps of any of the front-runners.
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Photo by: Jamie Squire / Getty Images
"I think we were third in both stages and finished third, and honestly we were kind of running those guys down quick there at the end the last handful of laps," said Blaney. "I just kind of restarted too far back and had to make up a lot of ground.
"It took a lot for my car to come in. I think five more laps, I think I probably would have scared the #5 [Larson] a little bit at least.
"But no, really proud of the 12 boys today ... Really good last couple weeks bringing fast race cars. Hopefully we can continue to do that, keep learning and move forward, but overall a really good weekend.
Although still winless in 2025, Blaney remains a weekly threat near the front of the field. This is his fourth top-five finish in the last five races, leading the way for the Blue Ovals (Ford) at Kansas.
Photos from Kansas - Race
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
2025 Kansas - Sunday
NASCAR Cup
34
Read Also:
NASCAR CupNightmare season continues as Brad Keselowski crashes from P2 at Kansas
NASCAR CupUnstoppable in Kansas, Kyle Larson cruises to a dominant NASCAR Cup win
NASCAR CupDenny Hamlin hit with back-to-back DNFs for the first time in 12 years
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 Nightmare season continues as Brad Keselowski crashes from P2 at Kansas
Next article Denny Hamlin hit with back-to-back DNFs for the first time in 12 years
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Nick DeGroot
Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup 2 h
Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup 3 h
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
9/11 after 25 years: How NASCAR went back racing following September 11 attacks
Feature
NASCAR Cup
Feature
NASCAR Cup
9/11 after 25 years: How NASCAR went back racing following September 11 attacks
Latest news
IndyCar set to drop Nashville Superspeedway and D.C. for 2027; Barcelona announcement looms
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 30 min
IndyCar set to drop Nashville Superspeedway and D.C. for 2027; Barcelona announcement looms
Carlos Sainz: "Difficult to be convinced" that F1 2026 can finish in the Middle East
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
34 min
Carlos Sainz: "Difficult to be convinced" that F1 2026 can finish in the Middle East
F1 United States GP: Friday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
54 min
F1 United States GP: Friday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
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