Just two NASCAR Ford drivers remain in the fight for the 2024 Cup Series title: Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney. With Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe eliminated after the Charlotte Roval, it’s up to Blaney and Logano to keep The Blue Oval’s championship hopes alive, and they’ve slipped a bit when it comes to this week’s Power Rankings.
According to the latest report from NASCAR.com, Logano slots in eighth among the eight championship eligible drivers. He barely made it into the Round of 8 – in fact, if the results at the Roval would have stood as they were, he wouldn’t have made it at all, but he was catapulted back into the Playoffs when the No. 48 Chevy Camaro ZL1 of Alex Bowman was disqualified for being too light in postrace inspection. Logano’s No. 22 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse finished eighth on the hybrid oval road course. His average finish of 18 this year is his worst since the 2011 season.
However, things could change with Las Vegas on the horizon. Logano’s NASCAR Ford has found Victory Lane three times at the oval track, most recently in 2022. He started from the pole position in the spring when the Cup Series visited the track but finished ninth.
Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 NASCAR Ford, is the defending Cup Series champion. He finished 10th at the Roval, but looking ahead to Vegas, anything could happen. He’s sixth in the Power Rankings, boasting top 10 finishes at Vegas in 10 of his 16 starts at the track, and has an average finish of 11.4. Conversely, he has not won at Vegas. In the three races during which he has led the most laps, however, he has not finished inside the top 10 and has a disappointing average finish of 25.0.
The Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 20th, 2024.
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