Penske star Ryan Blaney addresses Vegas DNF issue that left him in playoff elimination danger: "Unconclusive"

Ryan Blaney isn't sure what led to the tire failure that resulted in him scoring a last-place finish in last Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The driver of the #12 suffered the tire issue during the first stage of Sunday's 267-lap race, forcing him to go to the garage and register a 38th-place effort.

When speaking to FOX motorsports reporter Bob Pockrass about the crash, the Team Penske star said his team wasn't able to diagnose exactly what went wrong. While Blaney said the cause of the tire failure wasn't solved, it unfortunately wouldn't change the result in the end.

"I don't think we really found anything that really stood out that we could point like, 'Oh yeah, that was it.' Whether it got cut or it was low air over the bumps and it just kinda wore through it, we don't really know. Unconclusive, but the result was the same unfortunately," Ryan Blaney said. (0:10 onwards)

The last-place finish was a detriment to Ryan Blaney's hopes of returning to the championship race for the third straight season. With two races remaining in the Round of 8, the North Carolina native finds himself last in the playoff standings and 31 points below the cut line.

Fortunately, Blaney has two tracks coming up where he'd found a lot of success at. The 2023 Cup Series champion is a three-time winner at Talladega, including the 2023 playoff race, which was on his way to winning the championship at season's end. Blaney has also won the last two fall Martinsville races, and in both seasons, it punched his ticket to the Championship 4 race.

Ryan Blaney doesn't feel like he's in a must-win situation ahead of Talladega Cup race

Ryan Blaney's tire problem at Las Vegas hurt him in his bid for his second championship in three seasons. However, despite being 31 points below the cut line, the 31-year-old doesn't believe he's in a must-win situation heading into Talladega and Martinsville.

In the same interview with Bob Pockrass, Blaney said he doesn't believe much changes for he and his #12 team despite last week's poor result. If he's able to have strong points days in the next two races and capitalize on potential misfortunes of other playoff drivers, he'll find himself advancing to the Championship 4.

"I don't think so. It stinks where we are on points but we've still got two races left. I don't personally think we're in a must-win quite yet. Talladega, you never know what could happen. You could have a massive points day and be short of the win, but maybe a couple of other guys don't have as good of points days and you go into Martinsville maybe in a spot where you could point your way in if you have another good day short of winning," Ryan Blaney said. (0:51 onwards)

Ryan Blaney is aiming for his second career NASCAR Cup Series title. After winning in 2023, he finished runner-up to Team Penske teammate Joey Logano for the championship in 2024.

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Edited by John Breeden