When the 2023 NASCAR playoffs kicked off on Labor Day weekend at Darlington, the race pundits didn’t quite consider Ryan Blaney a threat to make it into the Championship 4. After all, the Team Penske star had entered the playoffs with only one regular season victory, 12th in the points, and with only 8 playoff points. But after Sunday’s Xfinity 500, he’s the one who had the last laugh.

And with that, all four speedsters are laser-focused on the quirky oval in the foothills of the Estrella Mountains in Arizona. As things stand now, Kyle Larson has had more time than everyone else to conjure his plans for Phoenix. Regardless of that, Larson considers the #12 driver a strong competition. While he spoke to FOX Sports, the pressure clearly oozed out of the former Cup Series champ’s voice.

Ryan Blaney has stolen Larson’s peace of mind

Despite starting the playoff with a top-10 finish, Ryan Blaney’s performance wasn’t too condescending for those who were in the grid. After all, he finished 12th and 22nd in the next two races and 28th in the subsequent one. But he shocked the world by holding off Stewart-Haas Racing icon Kevin Harvick in a perfect photo finish to grab the win in the YellaWood 500. But moving forward, it hasn’t been a bed of roses for Blaney.

Blaney fell back to P12 at the ROVAL. Even his 6th place finish at Las Vegas was in danger of being taken away by NASCAR due to an unfortunate penalty, but luckily, NASCAR gave him back his lost points and position, which pushed him up to a 10-point cushion on the cutline. Nevertheless, he managed to finish the 4EVER 400 last week as the runner-up behind Christopher Bell. On that note, Blaney’s resurgence has forced Kyle Larson’s brows to meet in a stressful frown.

Today’s stock car races are all about taking chances and capitalizing on the same. When Larson finished 6th in the Xfinity 500, perhaps he was thinking; what if Ryan Blaney gets his hands on the perfect window of opportunity and seizes the title from him? The tension could be felt clearly when Bob Pockrass walked up to the Elk Grove resident and asked how he was planning on returning next week at his strongest.

Larson has a 4th and a 9th place finish at Phoenix in his last two starts, besides his Cup Series win back in 2021. Still, he felt like the #5 team was not very consistent considering their performances in the long run and the short run. “We were decent in the long run, not great in the short run,” said Larson, adding, “and in the Spring we were good in the short run not very good on the long run, so don’t know what we’ll have going there…”

“The 12 has been super good, the last two and a half months or so, I think he’ll be the one to beat,” he added.

This year’s Grand Finale will perhaps be nothing like the fans had expected. Many thought it would come down to a Hamlin-Larson showdown, others felt like it would be an RFK Racing-aided Ford dominance. And everyone anticipated it to be a Joe Gibbs-Rick Hendrick battle.

Looking at the roster now, there is just one JGR driver, two HMS speedsters, and a sole Team Penske survivor. Nevertheless, Sunday’s race was special for a unique reason and that includes interesting statistics.

Watch this story: Kyle Larson: A Racing Prodigy’s Dream Journey

A marvelous spectacle since 1996 at the Virginian “Paperclip”

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Every nook and corner of the 500 lap-long Xfinity 500 was filled with thrill. With just 23 laps to go till the start-finish line of the mentally draining race, Ryan Blaney cleared Aric Almirola and dashed forth to collect his 3rd win this year and his first Championship 4 appearance.

But that’s perhaps not the biggest highlight from the racetrack point of view. An array of strategies played out between Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney as the duo raced each other, none of the two ready to back down. But the last 200 laps witnessed something that Martinsville has never seen in the last 27 years.

The final green flag ran non-stop for 168 laps, the longest in any Cup Series race at the half-mile short track since 1996. Good for Ryan Blaney, he had the lead to himself when he needed it the most. During a post-race interview, Blaney revealed his feelings during the closing laps of the round of 8 elimination race.

Blaney smiled as he admitted, “The last handful of laps you’re just hoping for no yellow…I mean you know you’re through to the next round and then you hope no yellow to where it can really become a bad deal”

Moving on to Phoenix, Blaney wishes to maintain the momentum that the #12 team has been gaining since Las Vegas and just carry it over to the last run of the season. Will he succeed? A week’s worth of wait and it’ll all be heard and known.

“Been Super Close for Many Years”- Ryan Blaney Gets Emotional As Championship Ticket Completes Unfulfilled Martinsville Dream