HOMESTEAD, Fla — It was pure playoff pandemonium in the final laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway that delivered an all-time moment in Cup Series history.
Ryan Blaney was leading at the bell lap, about to join his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway to be the second title contender to lock in and find the late momentum he was looking for to defend his NASCAR Cup Series title.
Tyler Reddick, however, had other plans.
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The 2024 Regular Season Champ was breathing down Blaney‘s neck down the backstretch on the final lap and went right against the outside wall to ride the high line. Blaney chose the upper-middle lane, which opened the door for Reddick to squeeze by. Carrying an enormous amount of speed through the last set of corners, the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota rocketed around the No. 12 Ford and snatched the lead as they exited Turn 4 to steal the win — and Blaney‘s bid — in a matter of seconds.
“It stings,” Blaney said. “How else you want me to describe it?”
It was a fierce battle between Reddick, Blaney and third-place finisher Denny Hamlin as they lined up in the top three spots on the race‘s final restart on Lap 261 after the No. 5 Chevrolet of Kyle Larson spun while attempting an aggressive three-wide move through the middle between Blaney and Austin Dillon — the latter of whom was about to go a lap down.
Hamlin vaulted to the lead when the race went green again, shooting past Reddick, Blaney and Chase Elliott out of Turn 2 in a daring four-wide maneuver. The No. 11 held onto the lead for five of the final seven laps before Blaney then made way past Hamlin on Lap 266 and thought he had a win sealed as he led 38 of the final 78 laps in the final stage.
“Hard-fought, man, just having to past the 11 [Hamlin], finally getting by him, I just didn‘t have a good last lap,” Blaney said. “I didn‘t really get to the bottom like I wanted in [Turns] 1 and 2, and it kind of gave the 45 [Reddick] a little clean air, then he just got a big shove by the 11 down the back.”
The trio of Reddick, Blaney and Hamlin each came to South Beach under the elimination line (Hamlin minus-27, Reddick minus-30 and Blaney minus-47), creating win-or-bust scenarios for all three drivers as they gave it all they had in the waning moments, and the late stages set well for any of them to still have a shot at Victory Lane with one more circuit around the aged Homestead asphalt.
“I sent it in there, and [Reddick] sent it in there miles further than, which I cannot believe it stuck,” Blaney said. “The Toyotas could do that all day, just their entry speed was crazy fast and benefited them there. A shame to lose it on the last lap like that.”
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The turnaround will be quick for the defending champ, who isn‘t wasting time licking his fresh wounds before the penultimate race of the season at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
“I try not to stew over these things,” Blaney said. “I just try to learn from them and be like, ‘Well, this probably would‘ve been the best route to do, and maybe if you‘re in that spot next time, do that.’ But try not to sit around and let it eat me because then you‘re gonna go crazy.”
Blaney led seven times for 47 laps, and his runner-up finish was enough to dwindle his points gap to the elimination to 38 markers. However, he still remains seventh in the playoff table.
While the bright side for Blaney and Co. might be difficult to find, there is hope in the fact that they head to Martinsville next week as the defending winner, where the No. 12 won its way into a Championship 4 spot by dominating the race and leading 145 laps in last year‘s contest.
“Tomorrow morning, we‘ll restack and get ready for Martinsville,” Blaney said. “I was super excited about the speed we had today. I mean, I can‘t complain about that. Honestly, last week‘s speed, too, was great before we got in the wreck. So hopefully, we can bring that same speed to Martinsville.”
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