Ryan Blaney is now in the conversation to become the regular-season champion in 2026. He won the Quaker State 400 after leading 171 laps, the most by a driver in a drafting-style race since Richard Petty in 1964, and suddenly finds himself within reach of championship leader Denny Hamlin. He did all that without any other Ford driver coming close to Victory Lane, with Joey Logano finishing as the next-best Ford driver in ninth. However, there was a moment in the race where it looked like a victory would be thrown away. Thankfully, a genius strategy move meant he ended his outing with a waffle and a trophy.

How Ryan Blaney won the Quaker State 400

Blaney, who took up more fuel at the start of Stage 3, dropped down to 18th position. But it ultimately helped him, as he admitted in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“Yeah, at the start of Stage 3, we had to take a lot more gas than a lot of other guys. I think I restarted on the 18th, and I got to 10th or 11th maybe, before that one caution. You know, the last caution, where we all pitted. The fortunate side was that we didn’t have to take as much gas, because we’re mid-pack and kind of saved a bunch of gas,” the Team Penske driver said.

Blaney saved significantly more fuel than the rest of the field by running in the draft. So, when the final caution came out, and other cars were short on fuel, Blaney still had plenty left in the tank. That allowed him to make a shorter pit stop, helping him get out ahead of the field and reclaim the lead.

“It got us back to restart on the first couple of rows. We were slowly working our way up through there, but my car was best in the lead,” Blaney added in the same interview. “In the front of the pack, I could kind of manage the race pretty well. I could manage lanes pretty decent.”

After re-taking the lead through the fuel strategy, Blaney still had to survive one final stretch at EchoPark Speedway. The draft kept shuffling the field, and every restart brought a new challenge. With less than 30 laps to go, he even brushed the outside wall after contact from Bubba Wallace, leaving the No. 12 with a vibration. But instead of pitting, Team Penske kept him on track and trusted the car to make it to the finish.

That decision paid off. A late caution sent the race into overtime, where Carson Hocevar took the lead on the restart while Blaney lined up on the outside. On the final lap, the three drivers battled for the win, with Hocevar in the middle, Wallace on the inside, and Blaney on the outside. A big push from Christopher Bell gave Blaney the momentum he needed, and he edged ahead at the finish line to complete one of the closest finishes of the season.

“Just an ideal weekend, weekends that you don’t really get. We’re sitting on the pole, getting both stages, winning the race. That’s a dream weekend, right there. Just fortunate that we brought a really fast car, I appreciate everybody at Team Penske,” Blaney also said.

The Quaker State 400 marked Blaney and Team Penske’s second win of the 2026 season. In fact, Blaney has now delivered the team’s last six Cup Series victories, highlighting just how important he has been. Many have even joked that he’s carrying Ford on his own. With Toyota dominating much of the season so far, Blaney has now put himself firmly in the championship conversation.

Where does this put Blaney?

The 2026 season has largely belonged to Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin. Reddick has won five races, while Hamlin has four victories and took over the regular-season points lead at Sonoma after Race 18. Earlier in the year, Reddick held a 129-point advantage over Hamlin, but a run of six top-five finishes in nine races, including three straight wins heading into late June, helped Hamlin erase the deficit and move to the top of the standings. Now, the script could very well change again.

Blaney’s performance at the EchoPark Speedway shows that Ford and Team Penske have not thrown in the towel. Before the Quaker State 400, Blaney was 113 points behind Hamlin. Now, the 32-year-old is just 65 behind the Joe Gibbs Racing star.

“I couldn’t ask for a better weekend,” Blaney said after the race. His spot in The Chase is now all but secure, as he sits 288 points above the 17th-place cut line, currently occupied by his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano. Blaney also said the No. 12 car feels strong, an encouraging sign for Penske with the playoffs fast approaching.

“My car was incredibly fast, leading. I could defend moves without having to throw, like, low-percentage blocks. I just never really did that…”

To be fair, it was almost the perfect race weekend for Blaney, as he scored 75 of a possible 76 points. The only point he missed came from the fastest lap bonus, which surprisingly went to Rick Ware Racing’s Cody Ware. With North Wilkesboro Speedway up next, Blaney will look to close the gap to Hamlin even further as he continues his push for the regular-season championship.