Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano have won the past three NASCAR Cup Series championships for Team Penske. Logano and the No. 22 Ford team earned the crown in 2022 and 2024, while Blaney and the No. 12 Ford crew doing so in 2023.
Despite a valiant effort by Blaney in Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway, his second-place finish wasn’t good enough to propel him into the Championship Four. Logano, who started fourth and finished eighth, will also have plenty of time to think about what could have been as he failed to move on.
That’s because William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team started on the pole, led the most laps enroute to victory and sealed their championship bid. His HMS teammate Kyle Larson is also in, joining Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammates of Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe as the final four contenders.
No “One for the Thumb” to Roger Penske
Team Penske owner Roger Penske has four NCS titles to his credit, with the other coming from Brad Keselowski in 2021. Blaney and Logano both wanted to do well for their team owner and win a fourth-consecutive championship.
“It stinks we don’t have a shot to go for four in a row for Roger,” Blaney said. “Roger was here tonight and I was really wanting to see him in Victory Lane and celebrate it with him. But, we just weren’t able to get it done and the championship streak at Penske ends.
“That’s the way it goes, we just have to re-rack and try to be better for next year. That’s all you can do.”
Blaney had his work cut out for himself at Martinsville after qualifying 31st in the 37-car field. Despite that, he worked his way forward to lead for 107 laps.
“From starting where we did, picking our way through the field as fast as we did early was really great,” he said. “Going into this weekend, I just wanted a shot to win the race, and we had that tonight. It just didn’t really play out.
“I know we gave 100 percent of what we had. Nobody left anything on the table with this group and that’s all you can ask for.”
Logano’s Bid for Four Goes out the Door
Logano, who won all three of his championships under the Team Penske banner, pretty much summed up his Martinsville in one word.
“Bummed, I don’t know if there’s another word for it,” a visibly disappointed Logano said. “I’m just bummed that one of us didn’t make it. Everyone works hard enough to deserve to be there.
“We just couldn’t get the job done today, or really the last three races. That’s what it comes down to. The four there deserve to be there. That’s how I always look at it and this year we didn’t deserve to be there.
“There will be plenty, obviously, looking back at it and things we’ve got to do better. Ultimately, we just have to be faster. That’s the biggest thing.”
The two past champions still have one more chance to win a race, if not a championship. They can do that on Sunday, Nov. 2 when the green flag drops at 3 p.m. ET on NBC-TV, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90.
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