Before Kyle Larson’s ferocious last-lap charge stole the show, Ryan Blaney admitted his 2026 Cup Series championship hopes were on “life support” after a Stage 2 wreck at Talladega Superspeedway. Larson’s stunning rally from 11th to the lead in the closing seconds of Sunday’s YellaWood 500 only deepened the predicament for Team Penske, which now faces an uphill battle to salvage its championship aspirations.
Team Penske appeared to have control of the race in Stage 2 before disaster struck on the backstretch. Joey Logano, Blaney and Bubba Wallace bunched together in the top lane, with Wallace making contact with Blaney and sending the No. 12 Ford spinning into oncoming traffic. The incident triggered a 12-car pileup on Lap 133, ending Blaney’s day prematurely and marking his sixth DNF of the 2026 season.
Blaney took ownership of the first “Big One.”
“We were just racing hard three-wide and protecting and probably didn’t make a very good move,” Blaney told reporters at the infield care center. “Just trying to protect lanes and kind of got to the top lane and got big shoves. Everyone just pushing hard and things kind of got squirrely.”
Blaney was relegated to 38th, marking his third DNF in eight Chase presented by Mobil 1 races. The 12-car incident also claimed Tyler Reddick, who finished 37th despite entering Talladega fresh off his sixth victory of the season at Phoenix Raceway, a win that propelled him back into championship contention.
Logano captured the Stage 2 victory before his afternoon took a dramatic turn with five laps remaining in regulation. Running inside the top five, the No. 22 Ford received a shove from Carson Hocevar through the tri-oval, sending Logano into the outside wall before his car flipped onto its roof and slid down the frontstretch. Safety officials righted the car, and Logano climbed out under his own power.
“Carson was doing a good job pushing me in the right spots and everything and it just seemed like a lot of action was happening in the tri-oval and just got a shove right in the wrong spot and it shipped me,” Logano told a group of reporters. “I almost had it saved, I thought, and then I went head-on into the fence and had a Ricky Bobby moment at Talladega more than I like it. It was a long time on the lid and a hell of a ride, but I’m glad I didn’t tumble. Again, the safety crew did an amazing job flipping that thing over.
“I don’t know whether to be frustrated because I wrecked or happy to be alive. I’m kind of choosing the happy to be alive at this point. That was a long time to be on the lid.”
Logano wound up 34th despite leading 23 laps, tying Larson and Ryan Preece for the second-most laps led in the race.
“I don’t think you can really blame it on anyone,” Logano said of the incident. “It’s just what speedway racing is these days. It really sucks at times. At times it’s pretty awesome and at times you end up on your lid and you say it sucks. I don’t know. I like Martinsville [Speedway].”
Team Penske has enjoyed considerable success at Martinsville Speedway in recent years, with Blaney winning the fall race in two of the last three seasons to secure the No. 12 team a spot in the Championship 4. He came up just short of another victory last fall, finishing runner-up to William Byron. Logano has been equally consistent at the Virginia short track, recording 14 consecutive top-10 finishes dating back to fall 2019.
With two races remaining in the 2026 season, however, both Penske drivers face an uphill battle in the championship standings. Logano sits fifth, 100 points behind Larson, while Blaney is sixth, trailing the series leader by 107 points.
“It’s on life support. That’s for sure, but you never know,” Blaney stated. “It definitely doesn’t help. That’s something we couldn’t afford to have today and unfortunately it happened, so we’ll just have to go show up next week and try to do the best we can.”