Did Talladega just crush Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano's 2025 title hopes?

For Team Penske's Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, Talladega Superspeedway was supposed to be the turnaround point. Instead, it turned into the day both of their title hopes slipped away.

The YellaWood 500 delivered chaos from start to finish, and while Joe Gibbs Racing left the 2.66-mile oval celebrating, Penske’s title defense took a crushing hit. Chase Briscoe's first superspeedway win in his career sealed his Championship 4 berth, while Christopher Bell collected his seventh consecutive top-10 to comfortably sit above the cutline.

But for the Ford camp, things unraveled late. Joey Logano led a race-high 35 laps, Ryan Blaney also took turns out front, and they earned points in both stages heading into the final 20 laps. When the penultimate caution reset the field, the Penske Fords lined up on the front row.

Yet what followed was a collapse in the final laps. Todd Gilliland, with a push from Kyle Larson, took the inside lane, breaking up the Penske draft. Behind them, former Penske driver Brad Keselowski - in fuel-save mode - couldn’t stay on Logano’s bumper.

Joey Logano (22) and Ryan Blaney during the NASCAR Cup Series Mobil 1 301. Source: Getty

That small gap was all it took. Within three laps, both Logano and Blaney were shuffled out of the top ten as the upper lane formed and dropped in front of them.

“The car behind me was saving gas - that doesn’t help,” Logano told NASCAR.com post-race. “That kills the whole bottom lane. Cars are pulling down in front of us, and we keep getting demoted. You are helpless. You’re sitting there driving in circles and know what the right thing to do is, and you can’t do it.”

Ryan Blaney echoed his teammate’s frustrations.

“We got control of the race; me and Joey had control of it,” he said. “But (Keselowski) was super soft on Joey, and then (Gilliland) got down in front of me, and we could never go and just faded. I thought we did a great job of getting to the spot we were in, but it didn’t work out.”

From there, both drivers fell deep into the pack. When Chris Buescher’s crash brought out overtime, both Team Penske cars had to pit for fuel. The Hail Mary didn’t pay off as Logano finished 16th, while Blaney fell to 23rd place.

Now, both find themselves in danger heading into Martinsville. Drivers below the cutline - are William Byron (-36), Joey Logano (-38), Ryan Blaney (-47), and Chase Elliott (-62) now must win to make it into the Championship 4.

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“You just have to go win”: Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney look to ‘dig deep’ at Martinsville but might cost each other

Ryan Blaney (R) and Joey Logano during the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day. Source: Getty

With Denny Hamlin locking his spot at Las Vegas and Chase Briscoe securing his with the Talladega victory, only two Championship 4 berths remain. Christopher Bell sits at +37 while Kyle Larson is at +36, and they have a strong track record at Martinsville.

For Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, however, points won’t matter anymore. A victory at the Virginia track is the only path forward.

“It’s simple in what to do,” Logano said (via NASCAR). “At this point, it’s all or nothing. Stage points aren’t going to matter; nothing is going to matter - we’re too far back. You just have to go win.”

Blaney, who’s won the last two fall Martinsville races, knows the challenge better than anyone.

“So what, we’ve won there twice?” he said post-race. “It’s up and down, you never know what’s going to happen year after year.... I don’t know what speed we’re going to have. It’s nice that we’ve won there a couple of times, but we’ve got to dig down deep for this one.”

Both drivers head to the short track with elite records. Blaney holds the best Martinsville average finish in the Next Gen era (4.6), with top-five results in five of his last seven starts, including two wins. Joey Logano isn’t far behind with a 5.6 average and hasn’t finished outside the top ten at the track since March 2019.

On paper, Penske should be strong, but form tells another story. Neither Ford looked dominant at Talladega, a track where they usually excel. Additionally, Martinsville’s rhythm-based layout means both drivers will likely be battling not just the field, but each other, for the one remaining ticket to Phoenix.

At the same time, with three consecutive Cup Series titles (2022-24) to their name, Team Penske knows how to deliver when it counts.