AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Blaney poured his blood, sweat and tears into the closing laps of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season at Phoenix Raceway, but he was unable to pass Joey Logano, falling one spot short of becoming the first back-to-back champion since 2010.
“I was tired, man,” Blaney said in his post-race press conference. “I was driving hard and huffing and puffing and felt like I was going to pass out after the race. I was working hard trying to close the gap down. There were a lot of similarities to last week (at Martinsville) and just didn’t quite get there this week.”
Blaney was a fixture at the front of the field all day, but he lost precious ground on the crucial final restart with 54 laps to go.
By the time the dust settled, Blaney had fallen back to sixth while Logano stormed to the front.
.@Blaney knows he has to go if he’s going to catch @joeylogano! pic.twitter.com/5llFVFQGAK
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 10, 2024
“Just got bottled up [on the restart],” Blaney said. “I took sixth. I thought the top was probably the better row, personally, and just got put in kind of a weird aero spot. A lot of guys washed up in front of me there through 1 and 2, and Joey kind of got clear, and then I only got to fourth.
“That was the outcome. Just Joey got to the lead pretty quick with how the restart went, and it worked out for him. By the time I settled in, I was fourth and had to work my ass off to try to get by the No. 5 and the No. 24 and run Joey down, and then I had nothing left. Everything was spent on that car.
“If I would have just been closer, if I would have come out second or so, I wouldn’t have had to work as hard and come from as far back and maybe would have had a little bit better shot.
Blaney’s biggest hangup while marching through the field was Kyle Larson, and the two drivers were involved in a fierce battle for third that lasted more than 20 laps. With Logano continuing to build a gap at the front of the field, frustration was running high within the No. 12 camp.
Ryan Blaney isn’t happy that Kyle Larson racing him hard for third.
“What the f***, man? F*** these assholes” Blaney
“He’s going to be a blockade” Tim Fedwea.
— Dustin Albino (@DustinAlbino) November 10, 2024
“Everybody put on defensive clinics today, everybody I tried to pass. Everybody did. So props to them for that,” Blaney joked sarcastically. “They did a great job.”
After the race, Larson — who…
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