The checkered flag was just a lap away, but Ryan Blaney couldn’t clinch it. It wasn’t his fault, but the strategy his team chose just didn’t pan out. Instead of securing his spot in the playoffs, Blaney is stuck at P12 in the regular-season standings. And to add insult to injury, Cindric’s victory bumped him further down the playoff grid. However, despite such miseries, there still stays the belief that perhaps he could be a championship contender!

However, not everyone sees it that way and recently another industry member came down heavily on the hopes and dreams of Blaney’s pending redemption arc!

NASCAR insider isn’t fully sold on Ryan Blaney cracking the top-4 this year, are they?

Last season, Ryan Blaney barely made waves until the playoff’s final stretch, with Dale Earnhardt Jr being one of the few firmly in his corner. While Blaney has a solid fanbase cheering for him, many are still holding their breath for that elusive win that would solidify his position in the top 16 for the playoffs. But, with that scenario yet to come to fruition, commentators are divided down the middle, trying to decide whether to give the Team Penske driver the benefit of the doubt!

However, one of the naysayers who doesn’t it see happening at all is Brett Griffin. “I’m like how do you say that when he has zero wins and he doesn’t have a bunch of playoff points? I mean, we know that to get in the top eight to feel secure about getting in the top eight, you have to have that cushion of playoff points. You can’t afford to go into a playoff format where there’s 16 guys in it and you don’t have a bunch of playoff points in the bank. Because one bad race in that first or second round and you’re toast,” the spotter said.

While Ryan Blaney might still have races left on the tracks where he traditionally performs well, and there’s a chance he could catch fire in the closing stretch like last year, it’s pretty doubtful anyone, aside from maybe Dale Jr, would peg him for their final four right now. Not to mention, if he had managed to clinch that win at Gateway, it would’ve given him enough points to break into the top 10 in the driver standings.

But, what was the gamble that didn’t pay off for Ryan Blaney in the end?

The #12 team’s strategy took a risky turn that ultimately didn’t work out

As they neared the white flag, Blaney’s #12 Ford started to lose steam coming off Turn 4. His Team Penske teammate, Austin Cindric, saw the opportunity and darted inside Blaney to snag the lead and ultimately, the race—marking his second career Cup Series win and his first top-five finish in a race that wasn’t on a superspeedway or a road course. But what led to this outcome?

After the last round of green-flag pit stops, Blaney was out in front with fresh tires. Christopher Bell, who pitted 18 laps after Blaney, was hot on his heels and took over the lead with 19 laps to go. Blaney and #20, both Championship 4 drivers from the previous season, duked it out until Bell encountered mechanical troubles. #12 thought he was set for a clear run to the finish, but his car’s fuel gauge had other ideas.

The #12 team had known their fuel strategy was tight, but running out of gas came as a surprise. “Like everyone else, we were trying to be aggressive and put ourselves in position to win and you have those things,” admitted Jonathan Hassler, Blaney’s crew chief. They aimed to be slightly aggressive to clinch a win, but sometimes, that’s how it goes in NASCAR.

Blaney also secured third place in each of the first two stages, which helped limit the damage in terms of points lost. All three of Team Penske’s cars were consistently in the top five throughout the 240-lap race. And while Blaney didn’t bring home Penske’s first win of the season, the victory stayed within the team, providing some consolation.