NASCAR Cup Series: Ryan Blaney not the big winner at Pocono

Team Penske's Ryan Blaney earned his second win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season on Sunday afternoon at Pocono Raceway. The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA became the second race won by the reigning series champion since the middle of June.

But the driver of the No. 12 Ford wasn't the biggest winner of the 160-lap race around the three-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Tricky Triangle in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Because there can be more than 16 race winners during the 26-race regular season, winning a single race doesn't necessarily lock a driver into the playoffs.

If there are more winners than playoff spots, the multi-race winners are all locked in, but the tiebreaker among single-race winners becomes points. With Blaney sitting in seventh place in the point standings, he was never much at risk of missing the postseason after securing his first win of the year at Iowa Speedway.

However, a couple other race winners are at risk.

Specifically, Trackhouse Racing Team's Daniel Suarez, the winner at Atlanta Motor Speedway, sits in 17th place in the point standings, and Team Penske's Austin Cindric, the winner at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, sits in 19th.

But thanks to Blaney's win at Pocono, there is now just a very, very slim chance of there being more than 16 winners before the regular season ends.

A new winner would have to emerge in each and every one of the regular season's final five races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Michigan International Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, and Darlington Raceway in order for that to happen.

There were a number of non-winners who factored into Sunday's race at Pocono, including polesitter Ty Gibbs and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. Stewart-Haas Racing's Josh Berry and RFK Racing's Chris Buescher also led several laps.

But as things turned out, the top seven drivers in the final running order had all already won this year, which was exactly what drivers such as Suarez and Cindric wanted to see after finishing in a relatively quiet 16th and 18th place, respectively.

The emergence of any repeat winner in the regular season's final five races would officially lock those two drivers into the postseason. Neither has been to the playoffs since 2022, when they both got in after securing their first career victories.

The next race on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the last race on the calendar before the three-week break due to the Summer Olympics in Paris, France. The Brickyard 400 is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 21. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!