NASCAR: Ryan Blaney's win had massive playoff implications beyond himself

Ryan Blaney’s 0.007-second victory at Talladega Superspeedway had far more implications than simply locking him into the round of 8 of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney entered the second of three races in the round of 12 of the four-round, 10-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the 1000Bulbs.com 500, at Talladega Speedway in 12th place of the 12 drivers remaining in playoff contention.

The top three drivers below the round of 8 cut line were all within just seven points of that cut line, while Blaney was 22 points behind it after a mechanical issue knocked him out of the round of 12 opener at Dover International Speedway.

But Blaney silenced talks of a round of 12 elimination by clinching a spot in the round of 8 with a 0.007-second victory over Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman in this 188-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Talladega Superspeedway oval in Lincoln, Alabama.

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His victory had far more implications than simply locking himself into the round of 8 despite the fact that he was not in a position to advance to it based on his point total.

Even after his victory, Blaney still sits in only ninth place in points, meaning that had he not won the race, he would not even be ahead of the round of 8 cut line, not even with a second place finish.

This created at least an18-point swing against each and every one of the remaining playoff drivers below the round of 8 cut line.

With Blaney winning, it is Team Penske’s Joey Logano who sits right above the round of 8 cut line in the eighth and final transfer spot. Had Blaney not won this race, it would be Logano sitting in seventh place, and it would be Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman in eighth.

Logano sits 18 points ahead of Bowman, who sits four points ahead of teammate Chase Elliott. So instead of owning a four-point lead over the round of 8 cut line, Bowman trails it by 18 points.

For Elliott, instead of trailing the round of 8 cut line by four points to Bowman, he trails it by 22 to Logano. For Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer, instead of trailing the round of 8 cut line by six points to Bowman, he trails it by 24 to Logano. Finally, for Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, instead of trailing the round of 8 cut line by nine points to Bowman, he trails it by 27 to Logano.

With a maximum of only 60 points available for each driver in each race, 18 points is no small amount with one race remaining in the round of 12.

Unfortunately for Bowman, Elliott, Bowyer and Byron, they need to score an additional 18 points at Kansas Speedway compared to what they would have had to score to advance to the round of 8 had Newman won the 1000Bulbs.com 500 instead of Blaney.

Instead of four drivers trailing the round of 8 cut line by fewer than 10 points, nobody trails it by fewer than 17 points.

A final lap time of just 0.008 seconds quicker by Newman could have changed that.

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As big as Ryan Blaney’s 1000Bulbs.com 500 victory was in terms of him advancing through the four-round, 10-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, it was perhaps even bigger in terms of hampering the chances of four other drivers to advance to the three-race round of 8.

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NASCAR: Ryan Blaney’s win had massive playoff implications beyond himself

By Asher Fair | Oct 16, 2019

Ryan Blaney’s 0.007-second victory at Talladega Superspeedway had far more implications than simply locking him into the round of 8 of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.