AVONDALE, Ariz. – By many measures, Ryan Blaney entered the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race as the arguable favorite to win the 2024 title. He aimed to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson to win consecutive championships.
Ultimately, the race win and championship contest came down to the final 20 laps between Team Penske teammates Blaney and Joey Logano, who led 107 laps.
“I started managing my car when I got a couple of seconds out and felt like I was in a good spot,” Logano said. “Blaney got clear and I’m like, ‘I better start going’ because I knew how fast he was. I knew he cleared the Hendrick cars and they weren’t going to make it easy for him, that he was going to be lights out fast. I started going, and said, “I gotta go.’
“He started catching me at a pretty rapid rate those last 20 laps. Really, with 13, 14 to go, he was there. It was one mistake away.”
After a midpack qualifying effort on Saturday, Blaney rapidly charged through the field. The No. 12 Ford was among the biggest movers in the field during Stage 1, gaining 11 spots to sixth.
Logano and Blaney controlled the duration of the race, combining to lead 119 laps and sweeping the stages. During a green-flag pit cycle, Zane Smith spun on Lap 250. William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports’ championship-eligible driver, pitted three laps earlier, using a long run to get off strategy from the Nos. 12 and 22 teams.
On the restart, Logano made a three-wide pass to take the lead, while Blaney was stuck in the fourth position. He passed Kyle Larson in a valiant battle and, with 22 laps remaining, got around Byron for the second position, over three seconds behind Logano.
The charge was on. Logano struggled to get through lapped traffic and Blaney began to eat chunks of lap time out of his deficit. With over 10 laps remaining, he cut the gap to less than a half-second. As the margin shrunk, team owner Roger Penske became anxious.
“Once Blaney got clear, the next thing they had to race each other, which was a little concerning to me,” Penske said. “It’s one thing if you’re racing at a normal track, but when you’re racing for the championship, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Blaney could get within a car length of Logano, but could not make a move on the No. 22 Ford. Instead, he finished .330 seconds away from winning a second Cup title.
“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.
“Just the restart, 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.”
For the second week in a row, Blaney had a car that hauled on the long run. In Friday’s extended practice session, the No. 12 car led the way in 10- and 15-lap averages. He thought the race was playing out similarly to last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, when he won his way into the Championship 4.
“I’m thinking to myself, I think I’m going to get there, get close; but I don’t know if I’m going to have anything to pass him, but I can’t save because I’m never going to get there if I save,” Blaney added. “Martinsville was a little bit different because I had more laps left. Here, I really just had to use my [expletive] up really hard to get close, and then just didn’t really have anything left there.”
Logano worked the air. He thought he was at a disadvantage because Blaney’s fastest lane wrapping the bottom of the track wasn’t where Logano was best. If the No. 12 car could get by, Blaney thought, “if I got the lead, I’m gone.”
Blaney ends the season with three wins and 12 top-five finishes, both tying career highs. The No. 12 team has become a frequent threat for victories and crew chief Jonathan Hassler believes the group will come back stronger in 2025.
“I thought we had more speed than we did all of 2023,” Hassler told Jayski.com. “Proud of the speed we brought and we’re going to continue to get better, win more races and contend for championships.”