[autotag]Ryan Blaney[/autotag] couldn’t have imagined a better conclusion to the 2023 NASCAR season. Blaney ended the year with three wins, eight top-5 finishes, and 18 top-10 finishes. However, the driver of the No. 12 car claimed the most important honor of the season. Blaney won the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway.
It was an incredible playoff run for Blaney as he won at Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway. While he finished in second place at Phoenix, it was enough to win the championship. Blaney ended the campaign with three straight top-2 finishes, 562 laps led (seventh-best), and a 14.1 average finishing position (seventh-best). But, it didn’t come without major ups and downs.
A final lap @Blaney will never forget.
Presented by @CreditOneBank pic.twitter.com/dScwdUrlmz
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 6, 2023
Blaney won the 2023 Coca-Cola 600 and proceeded to enter a low period of racing. The Team Penske driver went 16 races without another top-5 finish, which was the difference between the Coca-Cola 600 in May and Talladega in October. Yet, Blaney and the No. 12 team peaked at the right time and earned Team Penske its second straight Cup Series title.
There will be plenty of debates on whether Blaney was a worthy champion in 2023. Other competitors certainly had better statistics but the 29-year-old driver was the most dominant when it mattered the most. Blaney’s career year was certainly worthy of a championship and if he can figure out a way to replicate this late-season success, another one will be on the way.
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