Ryan Blaney came up one spot short of an automatic bid in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Championship 4 after finishing second to Tyler Reddick during the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Reddick’s victory secured an automatic bid to the Championship 4 in Phoenix, while Blaney sits 38 points below the cut line heading into this weekend’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
“Yeah, disappointing. I had a good shot to win it and I didn’t have a very good last lap. I thought I got into three hard and [Tyler Reddick] just went in there and it stuck for him, which is really impressive,” Blaney explained.
“I hate to give one away there like that. I don’t know if we gave it away. We got the lead back after losing it on the restart and just that last lap didn’t play out for us. 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.
“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.”
Sean Gardner/Getty Images
The disappointment of finishing second at Homestead-Miami Speedway cannot linger long for Blaney and the No. 12 team as the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 is this Sunday at Martinsville. As it currently stands, Blaney is one of four drivers below the cutoff line to make the Championship 4 in Phoenix.
Chase Elliott is currently in eighth place 43 points below the cutoff line followed by Blaney (-38 points), Denny Hamlin (-18 points) and Kyle Larson (-7 points). With only two open spots remaining, held by Christopher Bell (+29 points) and William Byron (+7 points), Blaney will likely need to win at Martinsville to qualify for the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway.
“Yeah, I mean, it will suck for the night, then we’ll look forward to Martinsville tomorrow morning,” Blaney said. “We try to forget things quick. I’ve tried to do that more and more as I’ve gotten older, move on to the next thing, good, bad or indifferent, focus on the task. This team will do it.
“Yeah, we had good fortune at Martinsville last year. Hopefully we can bring the same kind of speed and be in contention to win.”