On paper, the fact that Ryan Blaney brought home a second-place finish in the No. 12 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Homestead-Miami Speedway might seem like cause for celebration. However, for Blaney, it wasn’t anything to celebrate – he’s still in danger of being eliminated from the Playoffs, something a victory in Florida would have prevented.
Blaney started 20th in the Cup Series race on October 27th, 2024, but as the race wore on, his NASCAR Ford crew dialed in his Mustang and sent him rocketing to the front of the field. Blaney was in the hunt for the win when the final caution waved for the No. 5 Chevy Camaro ZL1 of Kyle Larson, which spun out with 12 laps left on the board. Blaney pitted and headed back out on track, slotting in behind the No. 45 Toyota TRD Camry of Tyler Reddick on the restart.
Blaney’s No. 12 NASCAR Ford surged into the lead after a tense battle with Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Camry. However, Reddick fired back on the high side, catapulting himself near the wall and passing Blaney and Hamlin like they were standing still. Blaney tried to answer with a rally, but couldn’t track Reddick down as they rounded the final corners and flew under the checkers.
“Yeah, disappointment,” Blaney said. “I had a good shot to win it and I didn’t have a very good last lap. I thought I got into three hard and the 45 [Reddick] just went in there and it stuck for him, which is really impressive. I hate to give one away there like that. I don’t know if we gave it away. We got the lead back after losing it on the restart and just that last lap didn’t play out for us. I appreciate everybody on the 12 team for bringing a really fast race car.”
Blaney enters Martinsville, the penultimate race in the 2024 Cup Series season, 38 points below the Playoffs cutline. Joey Logano is the only NASCAR Ford driver with a guaranteed spot in the Championship 4.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota | 267 | 97 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 2 | 20 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 267 | 47 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 3 | 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Mavis Tire Toyota | 267 | 21 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 4 | 3 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Rheem Toyota | 267 | 3 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 7 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 267 | 81 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 25 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Valvoline Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 7 | 11 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 32 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 15 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Zeigler Auto Group/LoJack Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 35 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Bonanza Cabernet Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 11 | 12 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Panini Color Blast Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Zep Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 13 | 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 267 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 24 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 15 | 21 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 16 | 23 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | FreewayFranchise.com Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 18 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Consumer Cellular Ford | 267 | 8 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 18 | 8 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's/RMHC Toyota | 267 | 2 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 19 | 16 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Beef A Roo Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 20 | 31 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | gener8tor Ford | 267 | 1 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 21 | 5 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/vitaminwater Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 28 | 43 | Erik Jones | Dollar Tree Toyota | 267 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 23 | 6 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 267 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 24 | 34 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 25 | 30 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 29 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Family Dollar Toyota | 267 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 27 | 36 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Freightliner Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 28 | 26 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 29 | 9 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 19 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Wellcare Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 17 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet | 267 | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 27 | 15 | Kaz Grala # | Meat N' Bone Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 33 | 22 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Kubota Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 10 | 7 | Justin Haley | Chili's Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet | 266 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 33 | 51 | Corey LaJoie | Schluter Systems Ford | 266 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 36 | 14 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 261 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 37 | 38 | 66 | * Chad Finchum(i) | GreenLightPP.com Ford | 258 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 38 | 37 | 44 | * JJ Yeley(i) | Urban Youth Chevrolet | 223 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
Comments
Blaney didn’t have a chance against the cheating Toyotas and their extra horsepower engines. And Nascar doesn’t do anything about it. Toyota has bought and paid for a championship.
Why did Ryan blaney give up the top side on last one lap coming to finish line If he would of stayed there.then there was no way he would of lost he just pulled over and let him go I don’t understand it’s like it’s rigged or something no way he would of lost if he would stayed at the top I don’t understand I’m a die hard blaney fan but something wasn’t right with that move he made I’m still pissed the race was his until he just moved over I don’t get it the race was his he would of won I believe It’s rigged why would he do that he would HAD to wreck me before I would of moved something ain’t right with me I think it’s rigged factsy