Blaney's up-and-down continues on upswing
Ryan Blaney has experienced a range of emotions since last Sunday, from disappointment to relief.
The No. 12 Team Penske driver was disqualified after the opening race of the round of eight in NASCAR's playoffs because of an alleged illegal front shock on his Ford.
But NASCAR reversed the disqualification a day later because of a flawed template used during the postrace inspection, leaving Blaney with a much smaller deficit to overcome in the playoff field when the round of eight continues today at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“A lot of emotions,” Blaney said Saturday, “but it was nice that it ended up, I think, as it should have.”
Only Kyle Larson has clinched a spot in the championship finale next month — the Hendrick Motorsports driver won the opening race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But Monday's reversal restored Blaney's sixth-place finish in that race and reduced his deficit from 56 points below the playoff cutline to 17.
“It's still going to be hard to make it,” Blaney said, “but it's not like a must-win. So it gives you a little more hope.”
Blaney, who is trying to make his first Cup Series championship finale, was running third in Homestead last year before he spun out. He said he'd like to capitalize on his experience in past races here, but anything can happen.
“Here you can have problems. Running the wall you can break some stuff pretty easy,” Blaney said. “You just go race and do the best you can.”
Larson, last year's Homestead winner, has little to gain in these next two races leading up to the championship, but that doesn't change his approach to Sunday's race.
“The pressure is probably a lot less than what other drivers are feeling,” Larson said, “but I feel like I want to win just as bad as anyone else does, too.”
Larson's teammate William Byron is second in the playoff field. Teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing round out the top four.
Truex gave Toyota its 500th pole win in NASCAR competition with a pole victory Saturday. He will lead the field for today's race.
Xfinity Series
Sam Mayer became the first driver to claim a spot in the NASCAR
Xfinity series championship with a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday.
Mayer, driver of the No. 1 for JR Motorsports, was ranked sixth in the playoff field entering the race. He held off second-place finisher Riley Herbst in the final laps to earn his fourth win in his last 12 races.
Next weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway will determine the final three drivers for the championship, which will take place at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 4.
Formula One
Max Verstappen started from the pole position and cruised to his third Formula One sprint race victory of the season on Saturday at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, a day before he'll go for another win in a dominant season at the United States Grand Prix.
Verstappen was denied the pole position for today's race because of a rare mistake on his final lap of qualifying on Friday. But the Red Bull driver returned to the track in top form a day later and won the pole position for the 19-lap sprint race.
Verstappen has already won the season championship with 14 grand prix victories and has taken three of the five sprint races so far.