Ryan Blaney has gone through tumultuous finishes this season. From getting spun out on lap 195 in Las Vegas to suffering a broken toe link and brake issues in Talladega, a swarm of mishaps plagued him. What is more? Blaney underwent no fewer than five DNFs! However, that miserable streak put him on track to implement an effective strategy for his season’s first victory.

The 2023 Cup Series champion was not in the spotlight for the Cracker Barrel 400. Other Nashville trendsetters like Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin were. But Larson’s efforts went up in smoke, Hamlin lost his pace by the end, and Ryan Blaney prevailed. And the Penske #12’s success was down to a skill he has perfected this season, which he finally got to reap the rewards for.

A sneak peek into Ryan Blaney’s superb run

The No. 12 Team Penske Ford was a force to be reckoned with at Nashville. Despite starting 15th, Ryan Blaney quickly proved exactly how fast he is. He set a lap of 30.30 seconds against the 30.60-second lap of Chase Briscoe, who was leading at the time. When Denny Hamlin won stage 2, he had quietly slipped into 7th position. Then, the No. 12 crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, made a brilliant strategy call to push Blaney ahead.

Blaney took only two fresh tires at the start of the second stage. That allowed him to effectively execute the turns and dodge the ensuing crashes. Toward the end of the 2nd stage, Blaney, William Byron, and Denny Hamlin were involved in a racing masterclass as they battled for the lead and the stage win. Hamlin had the lead and fought door-to-door with Blaney running right behind them, ready to pounce. Once Byron got the lead, Hamlin didn’t yield, and while the two got loose fighting each other off, Blaney slipped by on the inside line and cleared Byron for the lead.

However, one thing stood out about Blaney’s drive in stage 2, and that is his excellence on long green flag runs. The #12 team has been exceptional on long green flag runs. Look at Darlington this season, Blaney led the race for most of the final stage until a late caution saw him lose 5 spots on pit road as Denny Hamlin clinched the win. So, after winning a crucial green flag battle and holding on for the win, Blaney reflected on his excellence in such situations, and it’s down to a perfect synchronization between the crew chief and driver.

In a recent ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour’ episode, the 2014 Cup Series champion asked Ryan Blaney about his strategy. Blaney stressed the car’s finesse: “Jonathan [Hassler, crew chief] and I look at where’s the strengths at. I’ve always preferred a car to have loads of turn in it. And I’ll just deal with being free in some spots, you know. We’ve kind of come to this great spot of hitting this thing, where we’re not way off the pace on new tires, but we seem to hold on a lot longer. So I think it’s just Jonathan’s mindset of how he sets up these race cars and how he builds them. It just kind of complements what I’ve always enjoyed doing – kind of being aware of my tires.”

Indeed, even his teammate, Joey Logano, agreed with this theory. The No. 22 Ford driver led a good part of the race, but lost his lead to Ryan Blaney at the restart. Following that, the No. 12 led for 139 laps in Nashville. Logano reflected on how he had to bow to his teammate, echoing Blaney’s explanation: “The one restart, we lost the lead there, but I don’t think I would have maintained it anyway. That run (Blaney) was just lights out, which gave him that huge lead. (Blaney had) The best car. Glad the best car won.” Logano continued, “He’d do the corners well. He’s really good at being really precise, and that’s what the track asked for tonight. Hitting your marks at the bottom of the race track, Ryan’s really good at that.”

Indeed, Ryan Blaney’s first victory of the season and first at Nashville Superspeedway awed his peers. However, Kevin Harvick saw this coming.

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Predicting a glorious streak

After experiencing 5 DNFs, hardly anybody believed that Ryan Blaney could be a contender. However, Kevin Harvick held his faith in him since the beginning of 2025. After all, Blaney fetched three race victories at Iowa, Pocono, and Martinsville in 2024, and they were not the shocking wins that Joey Logano fetched, via “bada— restarts at the right moment to win a championship.” Although Logano ended up winning the 2024 Cup Series title, Harvick’s mind seemed set on the 2023 title winner. Blaney delivered accordingly. Aside from the DNFs, he has had a consistent season, holding 7 top tens, 6 top fives, and one pole. Blaney’s victory at Nashville was long due, and Harvick saw it coming.

“I really think that Ryan Blaney is due to break out here, because he has more speed than Joey Logano,” Kevin Harvick said in February. He compared Blaney’s pace with his teammate: “Blaney’s got more speed than Joey… And every year that he goes through those moments is a year closer to that super breakout year…Now the only thing that you hope doesn’t happen is it’s off-timed with the cars being the best at Phoenix, or the best and having the most speed. That doesn’t last forever.” Harvick also predicted that Blaney would win the All-Star Race – instead, his victory came just two races later.

Evidently, Ryan Blaney is drumming up a lot of hope about his 2025 title chances. We can only wait and see what magic the Team Penske driver conjures next.