Ryan Blaney Rides NASCAR Playoff Bubble as Cup Series Heads to Richmond

• Ryan Blaney goes into Sunday afternoon’s race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway leading Martin Truex Jr. by 19 points for the final playoff spot with three regular-season races remaining.

• Along with a half-dozen others, Blaney or Truex Jr. would almost guarantee a Playoff spot by winning the 400-lap, 250-miler at the ¾-mile, D-shaped track.

• Seven drivers are locked in: Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson.

Ryan Blaney’s fifth-place finish last weekend at Michigan International Speedway strengthened his tenuous hold on the 16th and final spot in the upcoming NASCAR Playoff Series. He goes into Sunday afternoon’s race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway leading Martin Truex Jr. by 19 points with three regular-season races remaining.

Along with a half-dozen others, Blaney or Truex Jr. would almost guarantee a Playoff spot by winning the 400-lap, 250-miler at the ¾-mile, D-shaped track. And while a victory by another first-time winner—Bubba Wallace, for example, or Erik Jones or Aric Almirola—would hurt their chances, it wouldn’t necessarily eliminate them. They could make it in by winning at Watkins Glen or Daytona Beach.

The formula to identify the 16 Playoff drivers is confusing almost beyond all reason. (And you thought going to the moon and back was complex). That said, NASCAR has assured us that even with 15 winners and three regular-season races remaining, seven drivers are locked in: Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson.

Nine others are close enough to be considered “virtually assured” of making it… but not quite officially. They include Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, and Kurt Busch. Winless Blaney is 19 points ahead of Truex Jr. for the final spot.

The 10-race Playoff Series opens Sept. 4 at Darlington, S.C. and goes on consecutive weekends to Kansas City, Bristol, Fort Worth, Talladega, the Charlotte roval, Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, and Martinsville. The championship-deciding race is Nov. 6 at Phoenix Raceway.

Richmond hasn’t been good to Blaney. The Team Penske driver has one pole in 12 starts dating to 2016, but no victories or top 5s, and only two top 10s in 12 starts. The top 10s were his 10th-place last fall and his seventh this past April. He’s led only 128 of a possible 4,813 laps, all of them last spring.

Truex Jr., also winless this year, has been otherworldly at Richmond, especially recently. The 2017 Cup Series champion has made 32 starts there with Dale Earnhardt Inc., Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Barney Visser/Furniture Row, and his current gig with Joe Gibbs Racing. He had only three Richmond top-5s in 26 starts with his other teams, but has finished first, first, second, fifth, first, and fourth in his Richmond races with JGR.