Ryan Blaney’s season-high in Texas ends in lingering discontent

Ryan Blaney delivered his season-best performance at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday, bringing home a third-place finish. However, he was going for a win, which would have placed him in the playoffs alongside last week’s winner and Blaney’s teammate, Austin Cindric.

Joey Logano, the reigning series champion and Blaney‘s other teammate at Team Penske, won the 267-lap race at Texas. This means Blaney is now the only Penske driver left to qualify for the postseason.

The 31-year-old driver from Hartford Township, Ohio, reflected on his day at the Fort Worth racetrack and wrote on X:

“We had a fast Mustang and our 12 Crew battled to put us where we needed to be to win the race. We left with a P3 but wanted more. Thank you to everyone @team_penske and Congrats to the 22 team. Thank you to my supporters and partners. Kansas is calling.”

Ryan Blaney is headed to Kansas Speedway for his upcoming race. The track is known for hosting a variety of racing series, including IndyCar, the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and obviously, the NASCAR Cup Series.

Named AdventHealth 400, the 267-lap feature will stream live on Fox Sports 1 on May 11, 3 pm ET onwards. Fans can also listen to radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Blaney has been to Kansas Speedway on 19 occasions. His best performances at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway include a win in 2022, besides six top-fives and 11 top-10s. This year’s race will mark his 14th start at the track.

Former Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney circles out “dumb decisions” that kept him from bagging his maiden victory of 2025

Ryan Blaney qualified 24th for Sunday’s Wurth 400. However, thanks to his speed and the overall strategy of the No. 12 team, the driver was able to advance 21 positions by the end of the race.

Even after all that, the win remained elusive for the Mustang driver. He would have had a shot if only he had picked the outer lane following the caution on Lap 244.

Spire Motorsports driver Michael McDowell veered to the top lane and grabbed the lead, never to give it away to Blaney. Detailing the same during a post-race interview, quoted by Newsweek, Blaney said:

“The one time I didn't pick the outside, the 71 (of McDowell) gets the lead, and then I couldn't get it back. Just driver making dumb decisions and not doing his job. I appreciate the 12 car was a fast car. Just can't do nothing right currently, so hopefully it will work itself out."

Ryan Blaney has been able to bag four top-fives and five top-10s so far. As of today, he sits seventh in the driver standings with 313 points to his name.