Blaney, Byron, Reddick comment on Cup championship race

AVONDALE, Ariz. — While Joey Logano secured his third NASCAR Cup Series Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, three drivers fell short in their quest for NASCAR’s premier series title.

Ryan Blaney, who raced down Team Penske teammate Joey Logano in the final laps from a multi-second deficit, fell 0.33 seconds short of winning a second title.

“If we’re going to race somebody, I’m happy it was him for the championship, and happy to be one-two for Roger, three in a row for Roger, super amazing, and Ford,” said Blaney, who led twice for 12 laps. 

“But on my side, I hate it for Menards, Advance Auto Parts, Body Armor, Dex Imaging, Wabash, the Wurth group, everybody who really puts a lot of effort into our program. Just super-fast, just didn’t quite have enough there at the end.” 

Blaney’s season included three wins, 12 Top-5 finishes, 18 Top-10 finishes with 567 laps led.

William Byron finished third after leading four times for 19 laps, 5.119 seconds behind the Team Penske teammates.

For Byron, it was the second time he finished third in points, his career high in the Cup Series. Byron won three races, 13 Top-5 finishes, 21 Top-10 finishes and led 357 laps.

“I just think that they were fast on the short run all weekend, and that was kind of our struggle,” Byron said. “Like we were decent throughout the run, but couldn’t really take off with a ton of speed. It wasn’t a huge surprise, but they were on me a little bit quicker than I thought they would be.”

Tyler Reddick finished the lowest of the championship-eligible drivers, finishing sixth, over 11 seconds behind race and championship winner Joey Logano.

“We maintained on pit road. We did all that we could, I think, with it. But certainly yeah, it’s tough when they just get further and further away over time,” Reddick said.

Reddick’s season featured three wins, 12 Top-5 finishes, 21 Top-10 finishes, the regular season title, and 597 laps led. 2024 was Reddick’s first Championship 4 appearance.