Ryan Blaney looking forward to Las Vegas playoff race after Talladega win
With his big win at Talladega secured and his fifth trip to the Round of 8 locked up, Ryan Blaney is already looking forward to Las Vegas. Of course, the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs have to run through the Charlotte Roval before any of that business. Still, it makes sense.
Last year, Joey Logano won at Las Vegas and openly admitted he and his team focused solely on Phoenix after that. Three weeks to prepare for a race versus a single week, that’s a huge difference.
Right now, Ryan Blaney has his ticket to the Round of 8. So, why not go all-in at Las Vegas?
“I feel like I’ve made mistakes,” Blaney said in the post-race press conference. “Last year I made two massive mistakes and kept us out of Phoenix. So I think learning from prior experiences is beneficial there. Obviously, you need your cars to be fast enough because it gets super tough, and these racetracks are — there’s no superspeedway or no road course. It’s traditional tracks. Then it gets super hard. When everything resets, you have guys that have tons of points. Today helped us out a little bit, but a couple guys have way more playoff points than us. That makes it super tough.”
Ryan Blaney continued later on about who he needs to compete with. Regardless, he’s looking forward to that Las Vegas race.
“I feel like our cars haven’t been quite the speed they needed to be to compete with maybe the 5, or the 11 has been fast, but I think we’re still working. This could be a big shot in the arm for us. I’m excited to see what we have for them when we unload in Vegas.”
The thing is, Ryan Blaney isn’t the only driver with a headstart on the rest of the competition.
Ryan Blaney vs. William Byron at Las Vegas
At this point, I’m looking at Las Vegas to be a showdown. Both William Byron and Ryan Blaney are in the Round of 8. Byron won the Vegas race to start the season. So, he’s likely going to be the favorite again as he tries to sweep the track and later on, Phoenix.
Given the fact that these two are already thinking about that Round of 8 race, we can also look forward to it. After seeing Joey Logano advance early and use it to his advantage in 2022, why wouldn’t Team Penske try the same thing with the 12 team?
As for William Byron, he really does appear to be the guy to beat. Denny Hamlin is right there with him, and if Kyle Larson can manage to escape the Roval, he’ll be a factor as well.
If I had to choose my Championship Four right now, I’d take those drivers. Byron, Blaney, Harmlin, and Larson. The only problem – Larson has a serious DNF issue. If that happens again in the Round of 8, it could open the door for another driver to steal that spot to Phoenix.