Kevin Harvick points to Ryan Blaney's major gains after Daytona win ahead of playoffs: "Huge implications"

NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Source: Getty
NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Source: Getty

With his win at Daytona, Ryan Blaney ended up jumping to second in points from fifth in the final race of the regular season. The win, Blaney's second of the season, has led to positive momentum heading into the playoffs as well as some crucial playoff points.

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This was something which Kevin Harvick touched upon during an episode of the Happy Hour podcast. The former NASCAR driver highlighted that Blaney made up all the positions, 13th to 1st, in the last two laps of the race as he elaborated:

"Huge implications in playoff points when Blaney goes from fourth or fifth to second in the points, wins the race. I mean, that was 9-10 point swing for playoff points for Blaney at the end of that race. Bumped Larson back, bumped Chase Elliott back, taking some points away from those guys.
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"And any points matter at this point. Blaney's +20 over the cutoff to start the playoffs. So, you think about those 9 or 10 points, that could be huge as as they go forward. And here we go again. Here we go. Team Penske winning the the race before the playoffs. I look at those playoffs and the way that they line out, they're just good for Penske."
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It's worth mentioning that Ryan Blaney's win at Daytona marked the third win of the season for Penske. However, crucially, it ended their win drought of 11 races heading into the playoffs.

Adding to Harvick's point on Team Penske, his co-host, Mamba Smith, mentioned the response of the team executive when he congratulated them in the victory lane. Smith asked Penske executives how they planned to approach heading into the playoffs.

"They're like, 'We have figured it out the last three years. I think we'll be just fine figuring out again,'" Smith added.
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Kevin Harvick claimed that the Penske cars have run better in the last month, with Ryan Blaney being solid all year. Despite having seven DNFs in the season and still finishing second in points, Harvick said that shows the #12 team has speed.

Ryan Blaney comments on him reaching second in points in regular season

Following his second win of the season, Ryan Blaney opened up on going from 5th to 2nd in points. He claimed that going to second speaks volumes about how good his team has been this year, whenever they've finished a race.

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Blaney mentioned that having so many DNFs wasn't ideal, but even with 'half those DNFs,' they had a 'good shot' of winning the race or at least ending up in the top 5.

"I think it just shows that we've been running good through the races and the stages and stuff like that and just maybe not have gotten the finishes that we deserve. But we really just powered through it. And just go on the next week and this group's been really good all year, to be honest with you," he described.

Ryan Blaney emphasized that his final status at the end of the regular season was a big indicator of where the #12 team was, as he hoped to build on it in the next 10 races.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam
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