Did You Notice? … In a NASCAR Cup Series season that’s tied a modern era record with 19 winners, there’s still plenty more top-tier contenders getting shut out?
A total of six winners from 2021 have yet to reach victory lane this season, an unusually high number with just two races left to break through.
Considering the Championship 4 finale has been won by the eventual title winner every year since 2014, when the format began, Martinsville Speedway may be the last chance for anyone besides Ryan Blaney to break through. Here’s a closer look at who’s still winless and why they failed to cash in thus far in 2022.
Ryan Blaney
2021 Wins: 3
2022 Best Finish: 2nd – Talladega Superspeedway (October)
2022 Laps Led: 527
Technically, Blaney has won a race this year, earning a cool $1 million bonus, but it was the NASCAR All-Star Race back in May. That made him a favorite to repeat a few weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway, but Blaney lost the handle after a stage two victory, fading to fourth.
That’s been typical this year for a driver who’s earned a Cup Series-best eight stage wins. Over the course of the race, Blaney’s car typically gets worse; his average finish (14.3) is nearly four positions lower than his average start (10.5).
But it’s the way his car fades in the final stage that sticks out. Twenty-two times in 34 races this year, Blaney has earned stage two points. Six times, he’s been the stage two winner (more than any other driver). But he’s ended up improving his position during the final stage in just four of those 22 events, posting a disastrous -155 position differential in those races.
You read that right; 155 positions lost during the final stage. There have been some mistakes in key moments, like the spin after a green-flag pit stop at Homestead-Miami Speedway last weekend, but really, the key for Blaney and crew chief Jonathan Hassler is to keep up with the racetrack.
Can he win Martinsville? Absolutely. Blaney has five top-five finishes in his last seven starts there, leading 232 laps. And he’s one of only two drivers on this list with a realistic shot at Phoenix Raceway: Blaney has three career poles there and was fourth two times in a row, including last November, when he was the first non-Championship 4 driver in the running order.
This time around, Blaney has an outside shot of pulling a Daniel Hemric and winning his first race of the…
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