Ryan Blaney has been chasing his first victory at the Bristol Motor Speedway for quite a few years. With multiple top 5 finishes at the track, including the Bristol dirt race, Blaney has come close a few times but never found himself in victory lane. But this weekend, he looks forward to changing that story.

Ryan Blaney looks optimistic this time

“We’ll see what the tires do. You know what that place has been, especially since that spring race had been kind of a big tire management deal there. But, I’ve always. I mean, I love racing Bristol, whether it’s the night race or the spring race. It’s always been a favorite track of mine. 

“Really hoping I can win in a Cup car one day. I’ve won in the Truck and when I’ve won there, I think it was still nationwide when I won there. Been close in the Cup car a handful of times. Just haven’t been able to do it. It’s going to be about conserving tires and picking lanes. It has always been a fun one, so yeah, it will be a wild race. It’ll be a perfect race to go back from the break.”

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His last three visits to Bristol have seen no worse than a P6 result. In his 19 starts, he’s finished nine times under the top-10 and four times under the top-5.

But this year, his performance has been up to the mark so far in the Cup Series. With a top 10 finish during a race nearly every week, Blaney has managed to turn around the difficulties his team has been facing so far. His only gripe has been the pit crew issues that seem to turn up out of nowhere.

“That stuff is so tricky because you want to be fast, so you’re pushing it all the time; those guys are. When you’re on the edge like this, just like racing, sometimes you make mistakes in trying to be the fastest.”

While his pit crew did make some blunders earlier, they were able to coordinate a near-flawless weekend at Martinsville, leading Ryan Blaney to a P6 finish. So it seems like they are able to work through the issues that were plaguing them during the initial races of the season.

Even Blaney noticed the same and commented about it. “I thought those guys put together a really great day at Martinsville. Really didn’t have any mistakes, so they bonded together. It’s kind of been a big talk of our loose wheel problems and stuff like that, but I think you just go through this, right? We have a new jackman, and it takes a little time to create that bond with everybody and create that rhythm and timing.”

Let’s have a look at another question that pops up in our minds when we look at Blaney’s performance this season.

Is Ryan Blaney still in contention for the regular-season championship?

Ryan Blaney has won one race and claimed four top 10 finishes so far in the 2026 season. His only bad races were Las Vegas and Daytona, where he was unable to compete near the front row. So far, Blaney’s pace has been the most remarkable among the Team Penske drivers.

He has an 82-point deficit to Tyler Reddick heading into Bristol. While that is a big amount, there is no doubt that one victory can significantly turn things around for him with 55 points and bring him much closer than anticipated. Not only that, but Blaney is also much better than Reddick when it comes to performance between the stages.

With 64 stage points, Ryan Blaney leads the Cup Series drivers in stage racing this season. His performance during the stages is a major reason for his current position in the driver’s championship. Although he was not able to go on a multiple race-winning spree like Reddick, he made up for that by not wrecking out often and staying as consistent as he could.

In theory, that is good enough. Blaney is truly able to master the ask of the Chase format, which forces drivers to optimize their races to earn the most points without dropping out by taking unnecessary risks. To bridge the gap between himself and a driver who has three more victories than him, Blaney has clearly raced very intelligently.

There are still 20 races to go until the end of the regular season. The way Ryan Blaney has been climbing steadily puts him in contention for the regular-season championship quite easily. 

Not only that, but a plus point for him is the fact that his rival is also facing major issues with his pit crew. Just like Blaney, Reddick’s crew has been very unreliable this season. It is the worst pit crew of the season so far. At least in that area, Blaney has luck on his side, favoring him.