Ryan Blaney wins instant classic Yellawood 500 at Talladega as field wrecks behind him
Twelve one-thousandths of a second, that is all Ryan Blaney needed to win over Kevin Harvick at Talladega Superspeedway. Blaney was able to get another win at Dega by just inches. He did it in 2019, he did it in 2020. Now the NASCAR driver has done it again in 2023 and now has a spot in the Round of 8.
Coming into the Round of 12, these three tracks lined up perfectly for Ryan Blaney. He just had to go out there and get it done. Blaney made a really strong move to get in front of William Byron and put Kevin Harvick in front of Xfinity Series full-timer Riley Herbst.
As the field wrecked behind them, Harvick and Blaney battled to the line. Talladega belongs to Ryan Blaney. He’s got another checkered flag at one of NASCAR’s most legendary tracks.
Three wins, all three by inches. Ryan Blaney might have had his biggest margin of victory today than in any of the other wins at Talladega. Most importantly, he moves on to the Round of 8 and has a real shot at making the Championship 4 at this point.
After last week’s speeding penalty, Blaney felt like he missed out on one. Earlier this season in April, Blaney was right there at Talladega when Bubba Wallace wrecked and Kyle Busch stole the win.
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This time, nothing was stopping Ryan Blaney from getting this victory, not even The Closer.
Ryan Blaney moving forward to the Round of 8
The thing that makes this even better, Ryan Blaney has a great shot in the Round of 8 to win again. His worst track of the three is Homestead-Miami. However, Las Vegas and Martinsville offer opportunities for Blaney.
Two drivers are now in the Round of 8, William Byron and Blaney. There are 10 other drivers fighting for six spots. The big losers on the day had to be Kyle Busch, who remains at the bottom of the playoff standings, and Ross Chastain. Chastain wrecked out early, right as Stage 1 came to an end.
Brad Keselowski also found himself out of this race early. For some of these drivers, the Roval will be the most important race of the season.
With the win, Ryan Blaney has two checkered flags this season. He last won at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600. This might be the momentum that Blaney needs to make that push to Phoenix. If he gets to that race, he at least has a shot at winning a championship.