When it comes to surviving the speed fest that the NASCAR playoff is, winning every race is not the need of the hour. For some, it surely is, but for most, it is all about not making mistakes, gaining stage points, and moving forward to the next round. Indeed, every race is crucial, but it is safe to say that the most coveted race of the entire playoff schedule is the Championship 4, and it is then that the four speedsters go all-in or nothing.

Such is the case for Ford icon Ryan Blaney. As he sits in the penultimate play-off spot, just 6 points above Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch, the Team Penske pilot revealed a rather unusual take on how he appears in the playoff picture as of today.

The No. 12 Ford doesn’t seem to be in a do-or-die situation

Having finished 7th and 4th in Stages 1 and 2 consecutively, Ryan Blaney started the day strong until a pit road speeding penalty hurled him to the back of the pack on a restart on lap 211. The way he managed to overcome the traffic after that and move up the numbers is surely commendable, but luck just decided to give him a hard time.

Ryan Blaney might have been looking forward to the round of 12 opener at Texas Motor Speedway, but his playoff contention fell short of luster when a six-car incident collected his #12 Ford Mustang on lap 257. And now, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney sit in a precarious situation before the next race at Talladega Superspeedway rolls out.

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While Blaney is in an 11-point deficit, the KB Motorsports owner is 17 points behind the cutline. The battle between these two is twofold: one, Kyle Busch must frog-jump four drivers, including Ryan Blaney, and two, Ryan Blaney must score enough points to keep his team in a good position before the decisive race at the Charlotte Roval.

However, while talking to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Blaney’s voice showed no signs of urgency as he laid out his strategy.

He said, “We don’t have to go win Talladega, we’re not in that spot. I was surprised I was only 11 points out after I saw the points after I wrecked, which shocked me; I thought I was gonna be more out of it.”

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According to Blaney, it’s all about how you deal with your failures. Ryan Blaney looks at the glass half full, as he believes the next two races will provide him with enough chances to make it up and enter the round of 8. With Talladega coming up, the number 12 team is bound to be hopeful. After all, nobody has forgotten the picture-perfect finish from 2020 that the 29-year-old driver performed to seize his second straight win at Talladega.

Ryan Blaney bagged the win in a memorable race

Thousands of people, including NASCAR legends like Richard Petty, stood together in support of Bubba Wallace after he found a noose hanging in his garage stall. The show started at Talladega with the message “#IStandWithBubba” painted on the infield grass.

Ryan Blaney held off Ricky Stenhouse Jr. during the last two laps and took home his fourth win of the season. According to ESPN, he said, “Just trying to block, block the best we could. Block the top, block the bottom … just beating and banging to the line.”

Fast forward to today, Blaney told Pockrass, “You’re gonna find yourself behind at some point in the playoffs, whether it’s on round 1, or round 2, or round 3 and you’re gonna have to find a way to make up points and have a really good day.”

“I’ve been in this spot before. I think it was after Dover. We had a mechanical failure and I was 20-something points out; I was probably gonna have to win,” he added.

His confidence is enough to make Kyle Busch’s fans worry a bit. It’s only a matter of time before we get to see how far these two NASCAR sensations fare at the ‘plate track’ of Talladega Superspeedway.

Read more: Kyle Busch Declares His Way to Race to Be Better, Unlike Former Teammate’s