Ryan Blaney made a last-ditch attempt to put the No. 12 Nascar Mustang in Victory Lane at Talladega Superspeedway on October 2nd, but lost the race by .046 seconds to Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy Camaro ZL1.
Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang lost ground when Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro shot ahead of the pack with one lap to go thanks to a push by Chevy teammate Erik Jones in the No. 43 Camaro. Blaney’s No. 12 Ford had help from the No. 34 Mustang of Michael McDowell, but didn’t have enough time to make it work and make the pass for the lead.
“I thought about it,” Blaney explained of a possible move to take the lead. “The second lane was kind of the strongest, definitely the second half of the race. And I thought about (throwing a block on Elliott) but when you go to the middle without a Ford or teammate behind you, the chances of getting split are so high.”
“As much as I trust Chase [Elliott], I don’t trust him enough for him not to take me three-wide and leave me in the middle so I chose to stay down in front of Michael [McDowell]. He was awesome at pushing me on the last restart and giving me great shots. Just a little bit too late.”
Blaney led 31 laps in the No. 12 Mustang at Talladega, proving he had a dominant race car. He remains the only driver in the Playoffs to not have a points-paying win in the 2022 Cup Series season. Blaney is currently racing without several critical members of his pit crew, including his crew chief, after being penalized for a loose wheel a few weeks ago.
The race at Talladega was rather tame for a superspeedway event – there was only one multicar wreck early in the race. The Cup Series drivers stayed clear of major trouble after that, save for a few single-car incidents, including one for a stalled car on Pit Road that set the stage for a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 188 | 10 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 19 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 188 | 31 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 29 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 4 | 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Jockey Chevrolet | 188 | 36 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | FedEx Express Toyota | 188 | 20 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 12 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 188 | 23 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 7 | 34 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Georgia Peanuts Ford | 188 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 14 | 99 | Daniel Suarez (P) | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 188 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 17 | 2 | Austin Cindric # (P) | Discount Tire Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 5 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Magical Vacation Planner Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 33 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet | 188 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 12 | 9 | 24 | William Byron (P) | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 188 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 20 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 4 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 188 | 36 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 21 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 27 | 45 | Bubba Wallace (P) | Leidos Toyota | 188 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 17 | 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Sirius XM Toyota | 188 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 18 | 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 188 | 8 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 7 | 48 | Noah Gragson(i) (P) | Ally Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 26 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's Toyota | 188 | 3 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 21 | 28 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 188 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 25 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/SunnyD Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 30 | 42 | Ty Dillon | SunseekerResorts.com Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 18 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Kohler Generators Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 23 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 188 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 22 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 188 | 1 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 27 | 11 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 8 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | REALTREE Chevrolet | 187 | 11 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 24 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Ford | 187 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 31 | 62 | Justin Allgaier(i) | Beard Oil/South Point Chevrolet | 186 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 36 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Summit Racing Equipment Ford | 184 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 37 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT UBCF Ford | 184 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 35 | 78 | BJ McLeod(i) | NASCAR Rivals Ford | 182 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 13 | 16 | Daniel Hemric(i) | Celsius Chevrolet | 180 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 32 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Schluter Systems Chevrolet | 44 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 15 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Dex Imaging Ford | 23 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 37 | 10 | 23 | Ty Gibbs(i) | Monster Energy Toyota | 23 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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