The 2023 Cup Series champion will not have a smooth path to the Championship 4. Ryan Blaney has crashed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and fallen into a must-win situation.
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Blaney will now have to win at either Talladega Superspeedway or Martinsville Speedway to put himself back into the Championship 4 for the third consecutive season.
The incident occurred on Lap 72. He cut a left front tire and slammed into the outside wall. This damaged his No. 12 Team Penske Ford to the point that he could not drive it back to the DVP area in the garage.
Huge playoff implications on Lap 72! @Blaney has trouble and gets into the wall. pic.twitter.com/MoCg5bEGHx
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 12, 2025
Blaney had to climb from the damaged Ford and head to the infield care center. He underwent evaluation before the medical team released him. The Team Penske driver then said that he had no warning before the caution. He just lifted heading into Turn 3 and then the tire blew.
Blaney has finished 30th or worse in three consecutive races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"I'm not overjoyed, I tell you that," Blaney said. "We'll have to come from behind like we did last year. Hopefully, we can win one of the next two weeks. We just can't have a smooth day it seems like."
Blaney will leave Las Vegas Motor Speedway last in the playoff standings and well below the Championship 4 cutline. However, he has rebounded from a similar situation in the past two seasons. He has won the cutoff race at Martinsville Speedway the last two seasons.
One change to the schedule will also potentially benefit Blaney. He will next head to Talladega Superspeedway, which slots into the Round of 8 for the first time. Blaney has three wins at the superspeedway, including playoff races in 2019 and 2023.
"You've got to be optimistic," Blaney said. "I'm not very happy right now, but tomorrow morning I'll be optimistic to go to the next race.
"We've had good success at the next two events, so hopefully we can come and bring the speed and try to overcome the hole we put ourselves in today."
