MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Ryan Blaney parking his Team Penske Ford in victory lane at Martinsville is nothing new. He did so last season before winning the Cup Series championship.
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This season's elimination race was considerably different for Blaney, however, as he had to overcome multiple setbacks and battle through a must-win situation.
"I'll be honest with you, that's the most tired I've been after a race in a long time," Blaney said after the race. "My God, I was tired. I still am. It's the most worn-out I've been, for sure.
"...I don't normally get worn out physically. I was beat up tonight. I mean, I was tired. My freaking shoulders hurt. My chest hurts for some reason. I don't know why."
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Blaney is one of the Cup Series' best at Martinsville. He entered the weekend with the best average finish among playoff drivers (8.8) at the short track, and he was riding a streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes there.
Yet he didn't have an easy day.
The early issues were in stage 2. Blaney had a much faster Ford Mustang than former teammate Brad Keselowski, but he could not make the pass for the lead. He tried using the bumper multiple times, and he made numerous angry comments over the radio.
Blaney ultimately had to settle for second in the stage.
The final stage featured Blaney being more aggressive.
He shoved Shane van Gisbergen into fellow playoff driver William Byron so that he could make the pass for second place. However, he then lost two spots on Lap 373 after making a green flag pit stop.
The most frustrating part for Blaney occurred after a caution for Carson Hocevar spinning on Lap 397. He went down pit road for fresh tires and fuel. He then lined up eighth for the restart as chaos unfolded.
Kyle Busch's No. 8 lost a wheel while the field was coming to the green flag. The official waved the green flag and then followed it up by waving the caution flag. This took mere seconds, but Blaney lost two spots before even crossing the start-finish line.
The reigning Cup champion was not happy. He made numerous comments over the radio and referred to the situation as a "f****** clown show."
"When he lost his wheel, I lost two spots there," a much calmer Blaney said after the race. "I didn't understand.
"We didn't pass the start-finish line when the caution came out, at least I didn't think so. I lost two spots. Damn, I had to restart like 10th."
Losing these spots at a track like Martinsville where position is a premium could have spelled doom for Blaney. Yet, it didn't. He used his fresh tires and a fast No. 12 Ford to move through the field.
He worked his way into fifth place by Lap 434 as he passed Denny Hamlin, another driver in a must-win situation. He passed Austin Cindric for fourth on Lap 446. He then passed Byron for third on Lap 454.
The only two drivers remaining ahead of Blaney were leader Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in second. They were multiple seconds ahead, and he was quickly running out of time.
Blaney's chances of getting back to Phoenix seemed bleak, but he did not give up.
"I didn't think I had a ton of laps left," Blaney said. "I tried to keep in mind, they're going to catch the back of the pack and slow down a lot because that happens every run. You slow down, like, three-tenths when you catch dirty air as the leaders. I've done that previous runs to this race.
"Honestly, I just, like, beat into my brain of saving rear tire for that moment. I used up the rear tire trying to pass (Keselowski) earlier in the race. I ran him down quick, had no tire. I had to stay disciplined knowing they would back up to me and I needed something to try to pass those guys and have something on corner exit."
Blaney remained disciplined, and he worked his way through lapped traffic to track down the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers. He reached Larson first, who had fallen to second place, and he bumped him out of the way on Lap 477.
Blaney then chased Elliott down and passed him cleanly on Lap 486. From that point on, all he had to do was build his advantage and hope that the caution flag did not wave.
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The Team Penske driver did what he needed while the other drivers in the field avoided late incidents on the track. He took the checkered flag and won his third race of the season.
It wasn't the smoothest of races, but Blaney and his team stuck together and fought through the adversity. Now they get to compete for a championship once again.
"The drive was great. How much time we made up is awesome," Blaney said. "You can make up that time when your car is really good. We got our car really good. Makes me look like a hero. At the same time, Jonathan (Hassler) and those guys did an awesome job of getting us where we needed to be. Definitely a joint effort.
"I think just grit, knowing where we restarted, knowing we didn't really have a ton of laps to get there, having the car to do it. This 12 group is just dogs, man."
