Defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney encountered a major setback in the opening race of the round of eight playoffs. After crashing his car in the qualifying lap, Blaney raced in the South Point 400 held on October 20, 2024, at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in his backup car and struggled to enter the top 15 cars of the pack. Later, he revealed how he would approach the two upcoming races.In a post-race interview with Frontstretch, the interviewer questioned the #12 driver about his struggles at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway how it affected his playoff journey, and how he would prepare for the rest of the races.Team Penske driver shared the change in his mindset and how he will focus on winning future races at Homestead and Martinsville instead of counting the points. He explained:"I mean, I think it's pretty semi we have to win, you know. I mean, we're way too far away on the cut line to try to point our way in honestly. So, yeah, just go try to try to win Homestead or Martinsville. And we honestly thought, like going into this round, we had the idea of just, You're probably gonna have to win one of these races anyway to advance.""So that mindset changed a little bit. Now we don't really worry about points. It's just a matter of, like, trying to win the race. So, I mean, obviously, it's not an ideal spot to be in, but yeah, really no different mindset changes, go, try to go, try to win one the next two."[01:40]Blaney finished in P32 after getting hit by the wall and spinning out in lap 90. Post-race, the #12 driver ranks sits in seventh place in the playoff standings with 47 points below the cut line.Ryan Blaney expressed his views on Tyler Reddick's crash at the Las Vegas Motor SpeedwayTeam Penske driver Ryan Blaney witnessed a multi-car crash up close at the South Point 400 race held on Sunday. In stage 2 of the 400-mile race, Reddick got involved in a collision with Chase Elliott, resulting in a DNF for both drivers placing outside the top 30 drivers. The wreck also collected Blaney and the former NASCAR Cup Series Champion Martin Truex Jr. However, he recovered from the crash and finished in sixth place.Ryan Blaney mentioned that he was not aware of Reddick's flip instantly and got to know about the incident after the race was over. He watched the clip of Reddick's flip in disbelief and reacted:"Holy sh*t, the 45 flipped over? Holy sh*t. Woah. I didn’t even know it flipped over. Holy sh*t. Wow. That’s crazy."Blaney was unable to finish the race and ended on lap 259 of 267. His teammate Joey Logano won the race after defeating the likes of Daniel Saurez and Christopher Bell.