The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney, was seconds away from securing his place in the Championship 4 when 'The Beast', Tyler Reddick, ripped around the outside of his No. 12 Team Penske Ford — taking the win and leaving Blaney to deal with his bitter emotions from such a brutal loss.
"I had a good shot to win it and I didn’t have a very good last lap," admitted Blaney. "I thought I got into three hard and the 45 [Reddick] just went in there and it stuck for him, which is really impressive. I hate to give one away there like that."
Setting up the final dash to the finish — Blaney managed to hold Kyle Larson back until the Hendrick Motorsports driver spun. This put Blaney in a position to aggressively defend against Chase Elliott after getting put three-wide on the restart. He successfully ran down Denny Hamlin as well, but Blaney couldn't stop Reddick, who was running third with slightly older tires. Reddick didn't appear to be a real threat. but in the course of a single lap, he stole the show.
As Reddick pulled alongside him, Blaney had the opportunity to get physical, but he chose not to. The 2023 Cup champ believed he could still get the run off the corner and clear the 23XI Racing driver. In truth, Reddick was already clear of him before he could possibly respond.
"I kind of thought I could slide up and be good and I sent it in there and he sent it in there miles further than me, which I cannot believe that it stuck," admitted Blaney. "The Toyotas could do that really good all day. Their entry speed was crazy fast and it benefitted him there. It stinks. It was an up and down day and it was a shame to lose one on the last lap like that.”
"We got the lead back after losing it on the restart and just that last lap didn’t play out for us," Blaney said. "I appreciate everybody on the 12 team for bringing a really fast race car. I had a really great shot to go to Phoenix and I still have one more chance, so we still have to look forward to that ... . It is a shame. I will be thinking through it all night of what I should have done different, probably. That is just the way it goes but I am really proud of the effort and hopefully we can bring it to them next week.”
Moving forward, Blaney noted that he tries 'not to stew over' moments like this, regrouping and looking ahead to the next battle at Martinsville Speedway. It will be his last shot to advance into the Championship 4 and looking at the points situation, he's going to have to win. But there is some good news: Blaney is the defending winner of that event.
