Ryan Blaney has spent the past two races trying to maintain an even balance as the fight marches on for the NASCAR Cup Series postseason chase championships starting Sunday at Darlington Raceway. The No. 12 Team Penske driver has amassed three wins in Phoenix, Bristol, and New Hampshire, 17 top-10 finishes, six top-five finishes, and four poles over 26 races this season.
The driver has spent his time on the track focused on consistency, strategizing for stronger qualifying form, making adjustments, and carrying steady momentum from stage to stage. And with an average start of 9.346, there’s no argument there. In 2025, he qualified mid-pack, between P12 and P18, but 2026 tells a much different story.
Out of the 3 wins he posted this season, New Hampshire stands out as his strongest, and not just because it was his second consecutive win at the track. Everything from start to finish was executed flawlessly. From tire management and pit execution to balance and race control, Blaney dominated, earning 40 winning points, 10 stage points, and five playoff points.
He may not have won every stage, but it didn’t matter because those points helped strengthen his 2nd-place position in the regular-season standings. Now that the Cup schedule is kicking off the postseason at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval at Darlington, nicknamed the Lady in Black for its temperamental nature, it’s down to the wire. Points can’t be lost.
They must be gained, and it looks like Blaney and the Team Penske team may have started things off on the wrong foot. Allegedly, the No. 12 Team Penske Ford failed pre-race inspection twice this afternoon. The team has lost car chief Raymond Fox for the weekend and will subsequently lose pit stall selection ahead of tomorrow’s Cook Out Southern 500.
The car did, however, pass inspection on the third go-round, but the team will have to rethink strategy after being pushed to the 38th and last pit stall in the garage. Even so, they can count themselves lucky that they weren’t hit with a pass-through penalty, which could’ve cost them a full lap rather than just a few minutes’ delay. Blaney remains hopeful this bump in the road won’t hurt the team.
“Yeah, looking like we’re going to only be a handful of minutes late to practice, so I think we’ll still have plenty of time,” Blaney told USA Sports.
Though he wasn’t late to practice, it’s different on race day, when drivers are fighting to stay above the cutline. Blaney knows that every mistake is magnified in the postseason, especially at a track as unforgiving as Darlington. The margin for error shrinks to nothing when the Chase opens, and even small setbacks can snowball into larger problems. For the No. 12 team, the goal now is simple: settle in, reset, and make sure this weekend’s stumble doesn’t define the round.
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