DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 17: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, poses with the trophy in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series 62nd Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2020, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Ryan Newman hospitalized after wreck
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With the car of Ryan Newman sliding upside-down trailing sparks behind him, Denny Hamlin joined elite company on Monday night in the second-closest finish in Daytona 500 history.
Hamlin beat Ryan Blaney to the finish line at Daytona International Speedway by 0.014 seconds, and while the driver of the No. 11 celebrated with a burnout on the infield grass, the emergency crew worked to extricate Newman from his No. 6 Ford, which came to rest on its roof at the end of the tri-oval.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 13: Daniel Suarez, driver of the #96 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota, crashes in the infield grass during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at Daytona International Speedway on February 13, 2020, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Looking simultaneously frustrated and disappointed, Daniel Suarez emerged from the Daytona International Speedway’s Infield Care Center Thursday night miffed at his early exit from the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 qualifying race – a fateful outcome that has cost him a position on Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) starting grid.
AVONDALE, ARIZONA – NOVEMBER 09: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 DEX Imaging Ford, stands by his car during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway on November 09, 2019 in Avondale, Arizona. Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Needing to make up a 23-point deficit to qualify for the Championship 4, Ryan Blaney started tenth in Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500, last among Playoff contenders.
MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – OCTOBER 27: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota, leads Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 27, 2019, in Martinsville, Virginia. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kevin Harvick’s victory Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway not only earned him a guaranteed position among the Championship 4 drivers to challenge for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title – it certainly upped the intrigue-level for Sunday’s already championship crucial Bluegreen Vacations 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Phoenix’s ISM Raceway.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 03: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Wabash National Ford, races William Byron, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 03, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
Ryan Blaney manhandled his No. 12 Team Penske Ford to an eighth-place finish in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, but he finished the night 23 points behind fourth-place finisher Joey Logano—who also is fourth in the standings—for the final two spots in the Championship 4.
“It was a long night,” Blaney acknowledged. “We struggled really bad all night with track position, and then I felt like, even when we got a little bit of it, we still weren’t very good.
“We tried a lot of things tonight, and they didn’t really work. Unfortunately, we didn’t really get many stage points and the 4 (Kevin Harvick) winning didn’t help our cause, but we have to run better than that anyway.”
Nor did it help Blaney’s cause that Ryan Newman, a driver notoriously difficult to pass, held him up during a green-flag run and blocked Blaney’s run off turn two.
“Ryan is Ryan and he is going to race hard,” Blaney said. “I was mad that I had a massive run up top and he just turned right and it made me jump out of the gas and get tight and hit the fence.
“That’s what I was mad about. I was fine with the racing before that, but when someone has a big run like that it’s like, ‘C’mon.’”
That incident likely didn’t change Blaney’s situation heading for ISM Raceway at Phoenix.
“Gotta win,” Blaney said. “Hopefully, we go do that.”
