Blaney Win Is Wakeup Call For Playoff Field

LOUDON, N.H. — Ryan Blaney’s victory Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was a non-too subtle wake-up call for the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field that Team Penske is up and ready to roll on another Cup championship.

The popular 2023 champ Blaney opened this three-race round of the 2025 Playoffs by leading 116 laps en route to his third victory of the season – resoundingly claiming that automatic bid into the championship’s Round of 8.

It marked the first time in four years a Ford had won at New Hampshire and put not only an abrupt end to the Toyota three-race domination that opened this year’s Playoff run but also saw a strong statement from the Penske team as a whole.

Blaney’s teammate, three-time and reigning series champ Joey Logano, who finished fourth Sunday, led a race best 147 laps meaning the iconic Penske team was out front a dominating 263 of the race’s 301 laps. They topped pre-race practice and then Logano and Blaney earned front row starting positions – a place they stayed for so much of the afternoon.

Even Sunday’s third-place finisher, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron was impressed with Team Penske’s weekend work saying the team’s Ford Mustangs “were in another zip code.”

“It’s huge,” Blaney said of Penske’s effort. “Any time you can win in the Playoffs, it’s just momentum. I’m a big believer in momentum and confidence. Not to say, I think all of us — you go into every weekend confident that you can do it. …When you win in the Playoffs, it’s just a little bit extra.

“It’s definitely not something to where like you don’t get to relax. That’s a big thing to me, like we’re not going to go relax for two weeks. We’re not going to go kick our feet up and just ride around. Like we’ll go try to win two more races. Got to stay in that mode. Got to stay in that on kill mode. That’s super important. It’s nice when we can do that.

“It’s just a confidence boost for everybody. Maybe a little weight off your shoulders to where you don’t have to worry about points or anything. Still at the same time, you’re trying just as hard every week to win. Whether you’re way out in points got to win or you’ve already one or you’re looking good on points, to me it’s the same goal every week.”

And if the rest of this round – races at Kansas Speedway this week and the Charlotte ROVAL elimination race on Oct. 5 – could be a significant indicator of whether the Penske team can extend its current three-year championship run.

Logano is a three-time Kansas winner, the last victory coming in 2020. Blaney won the inaugural ROVAL race in 2018.

Beyond Blaney’s golden ticket to the Round of 8, Logano moved from below the cut-off line in the standings prior to Sunday’s green flag to 24 points above (sixth among the eight drivers in positive standing). Their teammate Austin Cindric sits 10th, 19 points behind Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe, who is currently holding onto eighth position.

Going forward, the Round of 8 tracks set-up well for the Penske trio as well with Logano’s four wins at Las Vegas most among current drivers. Cindric won at Talladega this Spring and Blaney and Logano both have three Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway trophies as well. And Blaney has won the last two October races at the season’s penultimate stop at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

“That’s just part of the Playoffs, there’s pressure,” Blaney said of the Penske performance. “There are expectations that you should run well. Expectations with yourself. Expectations from the outside world. It’s just how do you handle that and how do you just clear all that stuff out and just go race at the end of the day? That’s how I’ve always tried to think about it, like just go racing and go do the best job that you can.

“That’s what I judge my team off of. Did we do a great job collectively? Did we communicate well through the week, through the weekend? Did we do a good job on pit road? Did I do my job on the racetrack? That’s what I think we did a great job of today.

“Yeah, it’s a lot of pressure. This is your season. This is your year, everyone’s year that can go win a championship. It’s nice that we could rise to the occasion today. Hopefully we can continue to do it.”