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  • NASCAR Playoff Drivers Notes and Quotes – Martinsville

    NASCAR Playoff Drivers Notes and Quotes – Martinsville

    Ryan Blaney, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, won the elimination race in the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway Sunday afternoon. He will defend his title next week at Phoenix Raceway, joined by Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Tyler Reddick in the quest for the 2024 champion title.

    Blaney. passed Chase Elliott for the lead on Lap 486 of 500, and pulled away to win by 2.593 seconds. It was his third win this season and his 13th career victory.

    It was a thrilling conclusion to the Playoff Round of 8 finale but it was not without controversy. In a close battle between Christopher Bell and William Byron for the final playoff spot, Bell made an unconventional move as he drove into the final corner, riding against the outside wall.

    NASCAR officials reviewed the move and determined that Bell had committed a safety violation and issued a penalty. Bell lost four positions and was eliminated from championship contention, and Byron advanced to the Championship 4 Round, joined by Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Martinsville winner, Blaney.

    Playoff Driver Quotes

    Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford – Winner

    “I’m worn out — I’ve got nothing left,” Blaney said, referring to a tense battle with Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson to take the lead in the final laps.

    “Oh, my God, I’m tired. Good battle and this car hung on longer than most, and I could really make some ground.”

    “The last 70 or so laps, I tried to save my rear (tires) the best I could, because that’s where I started struggling later in the runs,” said Blaney, who led 32 laps. “I hated I had to lay the bumper to some guys, but I had to do it. It was nice to pass the 9 (Elliott) clean. I laid the bumper to a couple guys that I wish I didn’t have to, but I needed to get going, so it was a long night.

    “I appreciate everybody for getting (the No. 12 Ford) better through the night. Thank goodness. I think that’s the most tired I’ve been after a race in a long time.”

    William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – Finished 6th

    “Yeah, I’ve never been a part of anything like this, so I don’t really know how to feel. I hate it for everyone involved, but I’m happy for this No. 24 Liberty University Chevy team. I’m happy for us moving on, and we’ll go on and focus on Phoenix (Raceway).”

    Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford – Finished 10th 

    “It was a top-10. That’s what it was. The focus has been on Phoenix and hopefully, it pays a dividend next weekend where we can unload with a lot of speed and have a race car that can go up there and run up front and win a championship.”

    Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota – Finished 34th

    Reddick locked himself into the Playoffs with his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway; unfortunately, a mechanical issue that caused a fire in his car left him on the sidelines.

    After the race he humorously posted on X: “This team is on fire! Ready to fight for a championship next week!

    The NASCAR Cup Series Champion will be crowned on Sunday, November 10, at Phoenix Raceway

  • Joey Logano tops leaderboard to win Cup Series pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway

    Joey Logano tops leaderboard to win Cup Series pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway

    Team Penske driver, Joey Logano, was fastest in qualifying Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway and won the Busch Light Pole Award with a 177.374 mph lap in his No. 22 Ford. It is Logano’s second pole this season, his second at Atlanta and his 28th career pole.

    He described the importance of his qualifying run and the nostalgia it evoked.

    “I probably put a little bit more weight on the team on this one, but, either way, it’s still cool to get a pole. I’ve never been on the front row of a superspeedway, forget a pole, and I don’t think I’ve ever done it in Xfinity or anything, so this is kind of cool, and doing it here in Atlanta is special for me.

    “There are so many memories here. I lived up in one of those condos for five years and raced Legends cars out here for six years and just the memories of walking into Victory Lane a minute ago to get the Pole Award and thinking about driving my Legend’s car in there with my dad and how cool that was and always dreaming about being on the big track when I was running the quarter-mile all the time and how neat it is just to be on the big track. I guess I try to keep those thoughts up front in my mind.”

    Ford dominated during qualifying to secure the top eight spots. Team Penske drivers Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney qualified second and third, respectively, with Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher and Chase Briscoe rounding out the top eight.

    “Congrats to everyone at Ford Performance and the Roush Yates Engine shop, everybody including Team Penske bringing lot of speed.,” Cindric said after qualifying. “I’m proud of that. Hopefully, it translates for tomorrow. I think this is as much of a handling race as it is anything else. You’ve got to have speed to keep the lead, so we’ll see what we have tomorrow to be able to race through the field, but obviously, we have the speed to stay up front.”

    Kyle Larson will start ninth in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell will start the race 10th in his No. 20 Toyota.

    Sunday’s Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET  on FOX with radio coverage by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson clinched a Championship 4 berth with a dominant win at Texas, leading 256 of 334 laps.

    “I think I’m obviously the favorite to win the championship,” Larson said. “Just ask the people in Texas, ‘Do you think Kyle Larson will win the Cup? Yes or no?’ and they’ll tell you ‘yes.’ That’s called ‘The Ayes Of Texas.’”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin and Ryan Blaney made contact with 20 laps remaining, which led to a tire rub on Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota. The rub eventually caused a spin, but Hamlin was able to stay on the lead laps. He survived a later spin to finish 11th.

    “I can’t tell you how many different cars I touched,” Hamlin said. “It was a lot. If you want an exact number, we’ll have to do some ‘contact tracing.’”

    3. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished sixth in the Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 500.

    “That’s a lot of name for a NASCAR race,” Blaney said. “The word ‘Auto’ is in the name twice. Not surprisingly, the word ‘Echo’ is also in the title.”

    4. Kyle Busch: Busch won Stage 1 and finished eighth at Texas.

    “I’m fourth in the playoff standings,” Busch said. “Now, to use a tennis reference, I need to ‘hold serve’ at Kansas and Martinsville and I’m in the championship round. Now, if I ‘double fault’ at Kansas and Martinsville, I’m out.”

    5. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex and Daniel Suarez got together late, which sent Truex’s No. 19 into the wall. Truex finished 25th, 14 laps down.

    “As much as I’d like to blame Suarez,” Truex said, “I can’t. We’ll just have to chalk it up to a ‘racing incident.’ That being said, I’d still prefer that Suarez stay as far away from me as possible, especially on the track. His average finish says he’s more than likely to oblige.”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano blew his engine with 34 laps to go and finished 30th in the Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 500.

    “Anytime you see that much smoke,” Logano said, “you know it’s not good, or some teenager is vaping.”

    7. William Byron: Byron took second at Texas, as Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson took the win.

    “My Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott has to start from the back after failing multiple inspections,” Byron said. “So, that’s two straight weeks in which he’s been ‘rear-ended.’”

    8. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished seventh despite having to make an early green flag pit stop due to a vibration.

    “Texas Motor Speedway features ‘Big Hoss,’” Elliott said. “That’s the video screen that has over 20,000 square feet of display. When you see Kevin Harvick on that screen, it proves what I’ve said all along-he’s the ‘biggest’ baby in NASCAR.”

    9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished fourth at Texas and is sixth in the championship standings.

    “The Texas race lacked the drama of Charlotte’s Roval,” Keselowski said. “Sure, some people got mad, but nobody got fighting mad. But just wait. Martinsville is just down the road on the schedule. Everyone knows: short track equals short fuses. Four drivers will go down; one’s bound to go down swinging.”

    10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished fifth at Texas.

    “NASCAR issued Chase Elliott and me a stern warning about continued action in our feud,” Harvick said. “They warned of ‘severe consequences’ if anything happens on the track. That leaves my options to retaliate very limited. Now, I guess the worst thing I can do to Chase is give him a lifetime supply of Hunt Brothers Pizza.”