Winning season streaks end for Blaney, Truex, Keselowski
AVONDALE, ARIZ. — In a season with five first-time winners, some previous NASCAR Cup Series winners were bound to fall short of a win in 2022 and three notable drivers did.
Ryan Blaney came the closest to a win in Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix. Blaney finished second after leading the second-most laps (109) and leading before the final caution.
Under caution, the crew had a slower stop that put him behind Chase Briscoe. On the subsequent restart, he was passed by teammate Joey Logano, who led the most laps (187) and built a two-second lead after passing Briscoe.
Blaney eventually passed Briscoe and cut Logano’s lead down to 0.3-seconds, with Ross Chastain – Logano’s championship rival – closing. However, Blaney couldn’t find a way by Logano and settled for second.
Blaney’s streak of winning seasons ended at five, dating back to 2017 when he earned his first Cup win. Since then, he has amassed seven wins, 57 of his 61 career top-5 finishes, 102 of his 113 top-10s and a playoff appearance each year.
On Sunday, Brad Keselowski quietly ended a streak of Cup seasons with a win at 11, dating back to 2011.
On Lap 272, Keselowski was running 27th, 1 lap down. Then, at the start-finish line, rubber build-up in the rocker box caused his car to catch fire – an ongoing issue for the Fords in 2022.
Keselowski finished 35th, out of the race on Lap 270.
Martin Truex Jr. ended his streak of Cup seasons with a win at 7, dating back to 2015.
Truex had quiet top-10 success at Phoenix, as he finished 5th and 3rd in the stages. Then, on Lap 278, a speeding penalty dropped him back to a 15th-place finish.
During Truex’s seven-straight winning seasons, he amassed 29 Cup wins, 97 top-5 finishes and 143 top-10s, plus the 2017 title, in 252 starts.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com