The last time a NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse visited the Cup Series Victory Lane was in early June, compliments of Ryan Blaney at Nashville. After that, The Blue Oval hit a summer slump, going winless in July and most of August – that is, until Blaney brought his No. 12 Mustang across the line first in an epic four-wide finish at Daytona on August 23rd, 2025.
Blaney seems to have a special skill for drafting tracks like Daytona, and proved it once again on Saturday night. In the closing laps, he slung his No. 12 NASCAR Ford to the outside lane, blowing past the Chevy of Justin Haley and the No. 41 Mustang of Cole Custer. He was able to hold them off to the line, tailed by the Chevy of Daniel Suarez, winning by just 0.031 seconds.
“What a wild last couple laps,” Blaney said. “Honestly, I was with Cole [Custer]. I kinda asked him, ‘If you go to the top, I’m going with you,’ and we kinda just waited, and waited, and then the opportunity came and he made a good move to get to the top… he gave a couple good shoves. There were a couple guys behind us, and it just kinda cleared the way for me when [Custer and Haley] started racing.”
He added, “Cool night, man. Everybody, thanks for coming, man, this is so cool! Awesome crowd tonight, awesome night.”
Blaney also admitted that he wasn’t overly thrilled with his NASCAR Ford team’s strategy to keep him mired in the pack for most of the race, but said that ultimately, it was for the better.
“We kinda just took what was given to us,” he said. “Definitely a little bit not as a traditional a way as we like to run them. We like to run them, lead laps and things like that, but just couldn’t really get there ’til the end, but we got there when it mattered.”
With that, the 2025 Playoffs field is set. Blaney, of course, will carry The Blue Oval’s banner as he seeks to back up his 2023 Cup Series Championship with a second trophy. He’s joined by fellow NASCAR Ford drivers Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, and Josh Berry in the fight for the 2025 Cup Series title through the final 10 races of the season.
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