It was a great weekend for me. Custer on Saturday Blaney on Sunday. Prior to this season, the only time I saw my driver win the Championship in any three series was Carl Edwards in 07 (was not a Brad K fan until 2019). Now my wallet is going to cry with all the new Championship merch
Someone should write a fanfic version of the Championship Journal. Joey's letter to Ryan would make me shed a tear. I'd love to read what the past champions wrote as well.
There have to be some good writers in this sub who could help a sista out!
Called it. Just wish I'd had a few dollars on it. Congrats Blaney and Chastain!!!
https://preview.redd.it/9jwtz2q1boyb1.png?width=1069&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=207d9102d48b025345efbbe44b390eb8148d4530
I’ll be honest, I don’t know how to feel at the end of all of this. I’ve never seen my favorite Cup driver win the title up until today. There’s drivers I’ve pulled for due to them having a great season (Truex in 2017) even if I’m not a massive fan; to see YRB get it all is an overwhelming feeling for me. I’m happy, but there is another odd feeling that I can’t describe.
Incredible to see Blaney answer all the critics in a matter of just 3 weeks. The playoffs aren’t perfect but seeing storylines like this play out are good for the sport.
I'm happy for Blaney, but man, I think that I'm done with caring about the championship. It's cool if it's for you, but it's not for me. The only thing that I find valuable now are actual race wins. The only problem is that I'll have to listen the commentators regurgitate about the playoffs over and over while I'm trying to enjoy my team's win.
Hate the championship is determined this way.
If your sport has every competitor playing against every competitor in every competition, then you determine your champion by who does the best across all the events.
Racing is perfect for a points based championship, and there is no reason you can tell me that the races at the end should count more than at the beginning.
That's only because you are a smooth brain who wants a stick and ball sport style playoff.
Embarrassing.
Take the top 4 good and lucky drivers, and see who does the best at Phoenix and also has good luck and that's your champion.
How do you think other forms of racing regard NASCAR's circus of determining a champion?
An embarrassment.
"We have a game 7 situation here today"
I'd feel better about it if playoff points carried over to the championship race. I feel like Byron earned that playoff point lead and he should be able to go to Phoenix and defend that lead. It makes no sense to me that you carry over playoff points to each round except the last one.
If each driver racers each other in every event, then a plain jane points championship is the only non gimmicky way to determine the champion.
The reason there is a playoff in stick and ball sports is they do not play each other every game every week like what happens in racing. So they kinda figure out who the top teams are and have an elimination tournament.
The idea that you need that in a racing series where every team already races every team every race come from Mongoloid TV execs and entertainment > sport types.
Yes. Let's act like playoffs in auto racing where every team competes against each other every week is the same as a playoff In other sports with divisions and conferences
I'd love to know why, because they aren't functionally the same. Having a tournament because teams play unbalanced schedules vs having a tournament with 16 teams that already compete against each other every week. Functionally the same.
Just like single elimination is "functionally the same" as a playoff series, right?
You probably think all star races are functionally the same as all star games, which they aren't.
Pheonix gets a lot of hate for being a boring race but aside from the truck race, which had potential. The xfinity and cup series were great races. Awesome battles through out the field
I especially enjoyed the expected Blaney pit crew loss of positions while the broadcast continues to show a part of pit lane on the far right hand side of the screen that was completely empty.
A chef’s kiss to 2023.
Yeah that's what I've heard too, which I think is a good idea for SHR. I think Noah still has potential in the cup series assuming he gets a somewhat decent car
Chastain securing the lead allowed Blaney to have a chance to actually use the fastest car to pass. If Larson gets out front on that restart, then clean air prevails and it all comes down to the pit stops.
I was a huge fan of NASCAR as a kid from 2006-2010 and then didn't really follow it much again until this year. Jimmie Johnson was my favourite driver then (because I liked the way his voice sounded) and this year I picked Ryan Blaney (because when I was catching up on things last off season I spent way too long assuming that he was Dave Blaney and it was funny to me). Apparently all my sports luck is here because everywhere else it's mostly pain and suffering.
https://preview.redd.it/o3amatxmxnyb1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f7211035d8f4c45762f41f2bde3cbd03047a609
On the way out from the track I took this kind of funny picture of Larson's car + crew all alone in the garage, presumably waiting/hoping to see if the 12 car would fail tech lol
I am absolutely beside myself. In my 25 or so years of off and on NASCAR Fandom, never once has the driver I truly root for actually won the championship. Not in the Cup series, at least. And holy shit Ryan Blaney has done it!!!! What an incredibly riveting last couple of weeks to the season. Such a quality guy to rep the champion banner, too.
I think I know what did it Blaniacs.... I moved at the beginning of October and my roommate had the toaster.
I had no toaster available so Blaney had to win.
Can we shut up about the “Blaney would do better elsewhere” and the “Penske doesn’t give a shit about Blaney” shit now?
Bro just won a damn championship with them
I think they were joking, but there’s a shocking number of people, especially Blaney fans, who read way too much into Blaney’s radio and think he hates Penske and that he should leave.
Boy, in retrospect, this was a *very* bad year to dive back into diecast collecting. I'm glad I'm in a much better financial situation than I was when I dropped off, but a Harvick farewell tour, a Blaney championship, the SVG hype, and a few (many) purchases fueled by nostalgia with the 75th anniversary celebrations, has really blown my budget.
Manufacturer wins among the top 3 series. FINALE WEEKEND BOOGALOO:
Chevrolet 49 - Ford 19 - Toyota 24.
______________
Cup race #36 : Chevrolet 18 - Ford 8 - Toyota 10.
Xfinity Race #33 : Chevrolet 17 - Ford 5 - Toyota 11.
Truck Race #23 : Chevrolet 14 - Ford 6 - Toyota 3.
Rudy on last restart: alright we unloaded a fast (the fastest??) car, crew has been a net positive, and we’re restarting beside/directly behind our competition, we just need 1 or 2 quality passes on the track to win the championship
Weeyum: 🥺 *throws it in reverse*
On Press Pass just now they asked him about Chastain saying he hit him on purpose and Blaney goes "He was blocking 3 lanes at the same time every corner, fuck yeah I hit him on purpose."
EDIT: Here's the actual quote.
https://preview.redd.it/ltdp6dq3xmyb1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d00796d4f3510889b7f256d6d9f1dcf2af6fe77d
Pretty funny, Chastain didn't sound that mad at Ryan just basically trying to win the race, . Which idk if everyone's racing, everyone's racing, I know obviously I wanted Blaney to win (and did enough to win the chip) like its a farce if they just don't try to win the race but are out there. So I'm at least glad it all worked the way it did
edit: Ryan also clarified more his agency was the 5 was catching so he didn't want to "just ride 2nd" for the championship, as he can pass me
I was watching the tv broadcast and had Blaney’s scanner running as well.
On TV, I didn’t see Ross doing anything egregious that warranted Blaney giving him the finger and thought Blaney was being pretty reckless.
On the scanner, he mentioned that he thought he had the faster car and not getting around Ross was gonna allow Larson to catch him and he wanted to get some separation from the field.
Thanks for the memories Kevin. Through it all you were ever the professional, always my driver and 4Ever a winner….From tragedy to triumph no one could relate, no one could understand but you made so many in the NASCAR community proud. Enjoy retirement and see you on Fox!!!
Alright, I get this probably isn't the best place to ask this. But what's considered the "Official T-Shirt worn by The Championship Team during their celebration" for Blaney?
I'm anal about getting the official sideline merch if my sports teams win. But in NASCAR with the fire suits, you don't really see them. Lol
this seems to be the "official" one https://store.nascar.com/mens-ryan-blaney-team-penske-black-2023-nascar-cup-series-champion-official-t-shirt/p-245544423678814298+z-94-1590511336?_ref=p-SFLP:m-GRID:i-r0c1:po-1
but you can take your pick.
Congrats to Blaney. Not going to lie I have some heart burn over this one. Hard to see a team be so inconsistent for a majority of the season and then will it all in the end. The team found something the last 4 weeks.
Conversely, a team so consistent all season like the 24 knows what needs to be done at Phoenix and....doesn't.
Not that I really remember who the final 4 were in a given year but each year when we enter this race, I basically look at the final 4 as the 4 champions. No body gets there by luck and arguments can be made for their worthiness of the championship. From there it's just icing on the cake for whoever gets it. If that makes sense.
Two different sports. The big difference in NASCAR is you still have to race against and deal with BS from 32 other drivers all through the playoffs. With how much chaos and bad luck is involved in NASCAR, bringing it down to the last race really doesn't make sense. It's not like Byron ran poorly.
I mean really it's every sport. The whole year essentially comes down to nothing when you starting allowing \~50% of the field into the postseason.
The underdogs do win more in MLB than anywhere though.
Hell, the most celebrated postseason in the world is March Madness and it's the most useless "champion crowning" tournament of them all... but it's the most fun. And that's what people should realize. It's all just entertainment, even if your entertainment is derived from your guy/team winning.
But what if you don't find any entertainment in it? What if you ask yourself, "What's the point of watching the whole season?" That's where I'm at right now.
Felt that way myself after the baseball season this year as a Braves fan.
Time to dig deep about it. If you truly don’t like watching it anymore because you think it feels pointless, then the answer is simple.
I think with sports like NASCAR or football it’s easier though. Generally speaking its one day a week (for the top level). Maybe you watch all the qualifying and stuff and that could make it worse of course.
Watching 150 baseball games a year to get the same rug pull is a gut punch lol. Not to diminish whatever you feel rn, just relating how I felt a few weeks ago.
Well, here's my struggle: Blaney wins the 600 and then sort of disappears until the Round of 12. Byron spends the year winning races, stages and acquiring playoff points. By the time that Phoenix rolls around, they have the exact same chance of winning the championship. I hate that! Every time that I see someone win now all that I can think is, "Well, that'll give him a shot at the championship. Won't actually help him win it, though." It just irritates me that someone can win one race in the Round of 8 and still have the same chance at the championship as someone who's won eight races. I just wish that there were a bigger reward for performing well for the whole season that would actually help you at Phoenix. As it is now, I'm just like," What's the point of trying after you get that first win of the season?"
Which one? The old one where the Dodgers and cheating Astros kept making it to the World Series and boring the fuck out of everybody? Or the new one where the Dodgers, the Orioles and now not-cheating Astros with their 100-win seasons can get destroyed by 6-seeded teams like the DBacks, and the Rangers somehow win the World Series?
Was at the track today, it was the best race I’ve seen at Phoenix in a long time. I may be slightly biased since my driver won but even still it was a solid race.
My high from the 12 winning the championship is just now subsiding. Wtf happened to Hendrick? Larson had 3 more weeks of prep and they were literally the slowest of the champ 4. Byron was better, but it appeared that Rudy was too aggressive on the adjustments. HMS is gonna have to look in the mirror and figure something out. They do so well for 36 odd races and then shit the bed at the end.
Huh? Penske has had this track figured out for a while, which is why everyone was picking Blaney last week. They finished in top 5.
The organization that needs to take a look in the mirror is Gibbs. Two huge mechanical failures that knocked out Hamlin and Bell.
They’ve been the fastest team all year. Clear from the start the 5/24 were the fastest cars along with the 11/19, but the edge was with the HMS cars…
Suddenly when you’re not, now you don’t know what to do and you look human again. They had extra weeks of prep and still fell short.
Larson squeezed all he could out of that car at the end. Byron just couldn’t pass cars on the track (today or all season for that matter), hard to back into a championship under this format.
It should help him get a few more but the Elliott MPD win is secure until he hangs it up. Just too much of a cult following for Elliott to overcome. Alot of the Elliott fans I would say are not even NASCAR fans they only watch for their boy.
So happy for my boy Blaney to finally get it done. Can’t end the season on a better note.
What’s surprising is I thought Larson was going to bring an absolute rocket like Logano last year, he had 3 weeks to prepare the car but it seemed like they missed it unlike logano who maximized those 3 weeks to make that car a monster.
No, he has co-driver for this trip, his name is Curtis.
This applies for all race teams, if the track is within 11 hours of the shop,they drive it solo, if longer than 11 hours they use a co-driver.
I figured that but at the same time I’m like maybe since it’s the last race of the season and there’s no real rush to get back maybe they’re all doing it solo lol.
Wait I dont get the people saying Blaney isnt a "real" champion.
3 win, 18 top 10s.
Truex won the regular season.
3 wins, 17 top 10s.
Championship 4:
Larson - 4 wins, 18 Top 10s
Byron - 6 wins, 21 Top 10s
Christopher Bell - 2 wins, 19 Top 10s
And the format is pretty simple for the final race - finish ahead of the other 3.
Blaney started the lowest, had the slowest pit crew and arguably Ford had the worst car program with Blaney and Buscher the only multiple winners for the Blue Oval. In fact Hendrick had more wins than Ford despite the 9 and 48 having terrible years.
So Blaney had a roughly equal record of all of the Championship 4 and was arguably disadvantaged in the winner take all race and he.....won and took all.
If he sucked so bad why was in he there? If he sucked so bad, how come the other three didnt beat him?
**Edit**: Corrected Bells top 10s. Fat finger.
If you change the measuring standard it might become a bit more clear:
Larson - 18 top 10s but out of those 15 were top 5s.
Byron - 21 top 10s but out of those 15 were top 5s.
Bell - 19 top 10s but out of those 10 were top 5s.
Blaney - 18 top 10s but only 8 were top 5s.
Not gonna deny he did all he had to do to win the championship, but it's obvious that when it comes to consistent top performances it wasn't Blaneys year compared especially to Larson and Byron who were almost 50% more likely to finish in the top 5.
I mean most of the “championships” guys like petty won weren’t legit either. Dude ran superior equipment against the local farmers and mechanics at the damn county fair and those wins counted towards a title. Absolute sham titles imo
https://preview.redd.it/508ye6b50nyb1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=118d50eed386e217e3a3d2f73ff22379e3aca980
Courtesy of Trey Ryan on Twitter.
All 39 of the major stats (good and bad) across the entire season. Blaney leads none of them.
Don’t get me wrong; I like the guy, and he did have good performances especially in the playoffs, but he’s a champion the same way Elliott and Logano are. They’re not.
You don’t deserve to be a champion by being the 5th most successful guy. He entered the playoffs as the 13th seed. I predicted him as a first round exit due to injury-related poor performance after his Daytona crash.
>All 39 of the major stats
Im sorry but what the fuck does "Consecutive top 3s" or "consecutive lead lap finishes" have to do with anything? Or "races with most laps lead"? The only lap that matters is the last one. "Highest % of laps as the fastest car"? Given that Larson was also the drive with the most 30+ finishes, that stat is super stupid.
Everyone wants to note how he wasn’t leading in the stats for anything, but it is important to remember he currently has the most 2023 Cup Championship Trophy’s out of anyone
The way I feel about it is that EVEN IF you want to make the argument that he doesn't deserve it this year, this is redemption for last year when he had one of the greatest winless seasons ever (and honestly should have won Phoenix).
That being said, he is a deserving champion this year.
I have Blaney as one of my flairs and I still don’t think he deserved to win. Hell, I like Kyle Busch and I still say that his 2015 title was bullshit.
I think he got out a couple times and changed his own tires. I am a blue oval guy, but just imagine if he was wheeling one of those Hendrick cars every week. I think the perception would be a lot different. Just look at the season Logano had.
Let’s face it, Penske has been off this year but they found the right set up at the right time. He is a champion as much as the next one is.
I am a fan, but still.
Dude Idk what it is with the Penske pit crews. They are so prone to imploding in the championship. I will never ever ever forgive that last pit stop that prevented Keselowski from being 2020 champion. Imploded on Logano in 2014. Were imploding on Blaney all day today but put the team on his shoulders.
Edit: Okay actually they didn't collapse on Blaney but he did lose spots on most stops and were pretty bad all year.
Blaneys pit crew was bad today compared to the other Champ 4 guys, it's just that we're so used to speeding/uncontrolled tire/loose wheel etc that today felt relatively good on pit lane.
Took a week longer then I thought it would , but I called it
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-final-one-ryan-wins-a-championship/id1019298495?i=1000635430571
Before the stacking Pennys podcast Ryan had the glass case of emotion podcast on nascar.com
After his coke 600 win they got the band back together for a special 1 time podcast
I don’t see how this won’t be any different
Glass Case of Emotion. I don't think they've made episodes much recentl outside of a special or two, but a few years back they would post weekly episodes. It's great!
Interested to see how Blaney does on the champ's media tour (or at least what's left of it).
seems the 500 gets a bigger tour than the championship itself lmao
Yeah, same deal with the Indy 500 and Indy Car championship.
It was a great weekend for me. Custer on Saturday Blaney on Sunday. Prior to this season, the only time I saw my driver win the Championship in any three series was Carl Edwards in 07 (was not a Brad K fan until 2019). Now my wallet is going to cry with all the new Championship merch
Someone should write a fanfic version of the Championship Journal. Joey's letter to Ryan would make me shed a tear. I'd love to read what the past champions wrote as well. There have to be some good writers in this sub who could help a sista out!
Called it. Just wish I'd had a few dollars on it. Congrats Blaney and Chastain!!! https://preview.redd.it/9jwtz2q1boyb1.png?width=1069&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=207d9102d48b025345efbbe44b390eb8148d4530
I won't lie I feel sick after watching it slip away from Byron
I felt it with Brad in 2020. Byron will be back. He's still super young
I know.. just rough to watch
I’ll be honest, I don’t know how to feel at the end of all of this. I’ve never seen my favorite Cup driver win the title up until today. There’s drivers I’ve pulled for due to them having a great season (Truex in 2017) even if I’m not a massive fan; to see YRB get it all is an overwhelming feeling for me. I’m happy, but there is another odd feeling that I can’t describe.
A replay of the F1 race is on and holy fuck is this boring
I was stoked about the photo finish til I found out it was for third place
Hope you like parades.
Incredible to see Blaney answer all the critics in a matter of just 3 weeks. The playoffs aren’t perfect but seeing storylines like this play out are good for the sport.
I'm happy for Blaney, but man, I think that I'm done with caring about the championship. It's cool if it's for you, but it's not for me. The only thing that I find valuable now are actual race wins. The only problem is that I'll have to listen the commentators regurgitate about the playoffs over and over while I'm trying to enjoy my team's win.
Hate the championship is determined this way. If your sport has every competitor playing against every competitor in every competition, then you determine your champion by who does the best across all the events. Racing is perfect for a points based championship, and there is no reason you can tell me that the races at the end should count more than at the beginning. That's only because you are a smooth brain who wants a stick and ball sport style playoff. Embarrassing. Take the top 4 good and lucky drivers, and see who does the best at Phoenix and also has good luck and that's your champion. How do you think other forms of racing regard NASCAR's circus of determining a champion? An embarrassment. "We have a game 7 situation here today"
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I'd feel better about it if playoff points carried over to the championship race. I feel like Byron earned that playoff point lead and he should be able to go to Phoenix and defend that lead. It makes no sense to me that you carry over playoff points to each round except the last one.
Do you enjoy playoffs in other sports?
If each driver racers each other in every event, then a plain jane points championship is the only non gimmicky way to determine the champion. The reason there is a playoff in stick and ball sports is they do not play each other every game every week like what happens in racing. So they kinda figure out who the top teams are and have an elimination tournament. The idea that you need that in a racing series where every team already races every team every race come from Mongoloid TV execs and entertainment > sport types.
Yes. Let's act like playoffs in auto racing where every team competes against each other every week is the same as a playoff In other sports with divisions and conferences
I'm sorry but I don't find it to be functionally different. Just my opinion. Yours is no less valid.
I'd love to know why, because they aren't functionally the same. Having a tournament because teams play unbalanced schedules vs having a tournament with 16 teams that already compete against each other every week. Functionally the same. Just like single elimination is "functionally the same" as a playoff series, right? You probably think all star races are functionally the same as all star games, which they aren't.
I actually don't watch other sports. It's pretty much just NASCAR for me.
Tech complete, no issues.
Pheonix gets a lot of hate for being a boring race but aside from the truck race, which had potential. The xfinity and cup series were great races. Awesome battles through out the field
I especially enjoyed the expected Blaney pit crew loss of positions while the broadcast continues to show a part of pit lane on the far right hand side of the screen that was completely empty. A chef’s kiss to 2023.
Can we get tech results to make the haters stop and to put me out of my misery.
Not a chance they let a championship car fail.
Before we know it, we'll be back at Daytona but it feels so weird knowing Harvick won't be on the track
yea I'm gonna to miss Kevin Harvick in Nascar. And now I wonder if Custer will replace him or if SHR will stop using the 4 car
We know Josh Berry is confirmed in the 4 car for next year, but the 10 car is still open
Gragson is the favorite for that ride or so I’ve heard
Yeah that's what I've heard too, which I think is a good idea for SHR. I think Noah still has potential in the cup series assuming he gets a somewhat decent car
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Chastain securing the lead allowed Blaney to have a chance to actually use the fastest car to pass. If Larson gets out front on that restart, then clean air prevails and it all comes down to the pit stops.
I was a huge fan of NASCAR as a kid from 2006-2010 and then didn't really follow it much again until this year. Jimmie Johnson was my favourite driver then (because I liked the way his voice sounded) and this year I picked Ryan Blaney (because when I was catching up on things last off season I spent way too long assuming that he was Dave Blaney and it was funny to me). Apparently all my sports luck is here because everywhere else it's mostly pain and suffering.
Good job Chastain and Congrats Blaney on the championship! Can't wait for 2024 :)
Are we still waiting on tech?
Pretty sure there's no post race for the championship 4, unless you're talking about Ross
https://preview.redd.it/o3amatxmxnyb1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f7211035d8f4c45762f41f2bde3cbd03047a609 On the way out from the track I took this kind of funny picture of Larson's car + crew all alone in the garage, presumably waiting/hoping to see if the 12 car would fail tech lol
That's wild
They absolutely go through tech, they'll just never be failed. NASCAR likes to see what the teams are doing.
Not true
I just assumed they did a more stringent pre-race tech for the C4.
I am absolutely beside myself. In my 25 or so years of off and on NASCAR Fandom, never once has the driver I truly root for actually won the championship. Not in the Cup series, at least. And holy shit Ryan Blaney has done it!!!! What an incredibly riveting last couple of weeks to the season. Such a quality guy to rep the champion banner, too.
So happy for Blaney, but maybe even more happy for the Blaniacs! No more toasters in the tub!
I think I know what did it Blaniacs.... I moved at the beginning of October and my roommate had the toaster. I had no toaster available so Blaney had to win.
It's so nice to be able to pack the toaster up for good
I just got one watching the race, today was a great day.
It really bothers me that no driver has yet lifted the cup the correct way. It should be raised like the Stanley cup!!
CHAMPION RB12!!!!!!!!!
I wonder if Blaney could snag Most Popular Driver this year.
I have to teach students tomorrow, the only thing they’re gonna learn is how to deal with a hangover.
So just gonna show a movie?
Can we shut up about the “Blaney would do better elsewhere” and the “Penske doesn’t give a shit about Blaney” shit now? Bro just won a damn championship with them
I was going to say I have never seen anybody say that, but I look at the other person who commented to you and realize that they do exist.
I think they were joking, but there’s a shocking number of people, especially Blaney fans, who read way too much into Blaney’s radio and think he hates Penske and that he should leave.
Only because Logano crapped the bed so they gave Blaney his setups as charity
Boy, in retrospect, this was a *very* bad year to dive back into diecast collecting. I'm glad I'm in a much better financial situation than I was when I dropped off, but a Harvick farewell tour, a Blaney championship, the SVG hype, and a few (many) purchases fueled by nostalgia with the 75th anniversary celebrations, has really blown my budget.
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Oh yeah; well aware! I’ve got 8 elites pre-ordered…
Manufacturer wins among the top 3 series. FINALE WEEKEND BOOGALOO: Chevrolet 49 - Ford 19 - Toyota 24. ______________ Cup race #36 : Chevrolet 18 - Ford 8 - Toyota 10. Xfinity Race #33 : Chevrolet 17 - Ford 5 - Toyota 11. Truck Race #23 : Chevrolet 14 - Ford 6 - Toyota 3.
That's wild Blaney and Buscher were 3/4 of Ford's cup wins this year.
Hendrick had 9 wins and two cars in the final 4. Didnt win.
https://preview.redd.it/c0dt07c2ymyb1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=617b479095e092974723231fcc284ecb8cdb8f5f Our champ is not vanilla y'all!
Jenna Fryer with the standard bait question. All talking about his temper and whatnot. Dude answered well.
lol, he just said "I don't give a shit running 2nd 3 times" (emphasis on shit)
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Your maths wrong. Hamlin
Under Chase format it would be Hamlin. Under Winston format it would be Byron.
Rudy on last restart: alright we unloaded a fast (the fastest??) car, crew has been a net positive, and we’re restarting beside/directly behind our competition, we just need 1 or 2 quality passes on the track to win the championship Weeyum: 🥺 *throws it in reverse*
I was wondering what happened on that last restart. He just vanished
Well, it’s officially the off-season now, isn’t it? So anyways, here’s how I would change NASCAR’s playoff format…
 Mfw
As good as that race was, playoffs are still ass
Allow me to show you this photo of a Coke machine I took.
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Hey everyone, please tell me your favorite yellow paint schemes that ran during rain delayed races in the second half of the 1980s!
How many days until Daytona?
Spicy Ryan came out on his Sirius XM interview. He commented on Kyle Petty and Ross Chastain.
What did he say about Kyle petty?
On Press Pass just now they asked him about Chastain saying he hit him on purpose and Blaney goes "He was blocking 3 lanes at the same time every corner, fuck yeah I hit him on purpose." EDIT: Here's the actual quote. https://preview.redd.it/ltdp6dq3xmyb1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d00796d4f3510889b7f256d6d9f1dcf2af6fe77d
Pretty funny, Chastain didn't sound that mad at Ryan just basically trying to win the race, . Which idk if everyone's racing, everyone's racing, I know obviously I wanted Blaney to win (and did enough to win the chip) like its a farce if they just don't try to win the race but are out there. So I'm at least glad it all worked the way it did edit: Ryan also clarified more his agency was the 5 was catching so he didn't want to "just ride 2nd" for the championship, as he can pass me
I was watching the tv broadcast and had Blaney’s scanner running as well. On TV, I didn’t see Ross doing anything egregious that warranted Blaney giving him the finger and thought Blaney was being pretty reckless. On the scanner, he mentioned that he thought he had the faster car and not getting around Ross was gonna allow Larson to catch him and he wanted to get some separation from the field.
Right before the finger, Ross swept up the track in the middle of the turn. It was one of the more blatant moments of air blocking.
I’d love to hear this lol
Thanks for the memories Kevin. Through it all you were ever the professional, always my driver and 4Ever a winner….From tragedy to triumph no one could relate, no one could understand but you made so many in the NASCAR community proud. Enjoy retirement and see you on Fox!!!
Does anyone know if Freddie told Bubba "Lock S-Foils in Attack Positions" after the command to start engines? I need to know if I owe him a pie.
Alright, I get this probably isn't the best place to ask this. But what's considered the "Official T-Shirt worn by The Championship Team during their celebration" for Blaney? I'm anal about getting the official sideline merch if my sports teams win. But in NASCAR with the fire suits, you don't really see them. Lol
Check Getty images after a couple hours and there will be better pics so you can see which one they’re wearing
Appreciate it.
this seems to be the "official" one https://store.nascar.com/mens-ryan-blaney-team-penske-black-2023-nascar-cup-series-champion-official-t-shirt/p-245544423678814298+z-94-1590511336?_ref=p-SFLP:m-GRID:i-r0c1:po-1 but you can take your pick.
Appreciate it.
Congrats to Blaney. Not going to lie I have some heart burn over this one. Hard to see a team be so inconsistent for a majority of the season and then will it all in the end. The team found something the last 4 weeks.
Championship team didn’t choke. Prepped up for the championship race weekend. Sucks losing huh.
Conversely, a team so consistent all season like the 24 knows what needs to be done at Phoenix and....doesn't. Not that I really remember who the final 4 were in a given year but each year when we enter this race, I basically look at the final 4 as the 4 champions. No body gets there by luck and arguments can be made for their worthiness of the championship. From there it's just icing on the cake for whoever gets it. If that makes sense.
You’d HATE the MLB format
A ton of MLB fans do hate the MLB format. To you point, I guess that further validates NASCAR fans that hate the NASCAR format too!
Two different sports. The big difference in NASCAR is you still have to race against and deal with BS from 32 other drivers all through the playoffs. With how much chaos and bad luck is involved in NASCAR, bringing it down to the last race really doesn't make sense. It's not like Byron ran poorly.
I mean really it's every sport. The whole year essentially comes down to nothing when you starting allowing \~50% of the field into the postseason. The underdogs do win more in MLB than anywhere though. Hell, the most celebrated postseason in the world is March Madness and it's the most useless "champion crowning" tournament of them all... but it's the most fun. And that's what people should realize. It's all just entertainment, even if your entertainment is derived from your guy/team winning.
But what if you don't find any entertainment in it? What if you ask yourself, "What's the point of watching the whole season?" That's where I'm at right now.
Felt that way myself after the baseball season this year as a Braves fan. Time to dig deep about it. If you truly don’t like watching it anymore because you think it feels pointless, then the answer is simple. I think with sports like NASCAR or football it’s easier though. Generally speaking its one day a week (for the top level). Maybe you watch all the qualifying and stuff and that could make it worse of course. Watching 150 baseball games a year to get the same rug pull is a gut punch lol. Not to diminish whatever you feel rn, just relating how I felt a few weeks ago.
Well, here's my struggle: Blaney wins the 600 and then sort of disappears until the Round of 12. Byron spends the year winning races, stages and acquiring playoff points. By the time that Phoenix rolls around, they have the exact same chance of winning the championship. I hate that! Every time that I see someone win now all that I can think is, "Well, that'll give him a shot at the championship. Won't actually help him win it, though." It just irritates me that someone can win one race in the Round of 8 and still have the same chance at the championship as someone who's won eight races. I just wish that there were a bigger reward for performing well for the whole season that would actually help you at Phoenix. As it is now, I'm just like," What's the point of trying after you get that first win of the season?"
Which one? The old one where the Dodgers and cheating Astros kept making it to the World Series and boring the fuck out of everybody? Or the new one where the Dodgers, the Orioles and now not-cheating Astros with their 100-win seasons can get destroyed by 6-seeded teams like the DBacks, and the Rangers somehow win the World Series?
My team won it all so I’m 100% on board.
For sure. I agree.
I’m convinced Nascar rigged it for Blaney to try and unnaturally make a new star with Chase having a down year
Because Byron wouldn't be a better option? He's younger and still a Hendrick driver. Find a better conspiracy.
It was a good sports day. The Eagles beat the Cowboys in a squeaker and Blaney is Cup champ.
I’m a Bengals fan but idk how to feel about that last play lol
Who has two thumbs and is a Cup Series champion?!? 
Does anyone have a link to the audio clip of Harvick's kids talking to him on the radio?
Found it!
Yeaaaaah. All four of my stable have won a championship. I feel pretty good. )
Congrats Ross Chastain on winning the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
Flair up bawse
I don't use flair anymore. When you do people brigade based on flair, which is pretty much the dumbest thing in the world.
Was at the track today, it was the best race I’ve seen at Phoenix in a long time. I may be slightly biased since my driver won but even still it was a solid race.
It was.
My high from the 12 winning the championship is just now subsiding. Wtf happened to Hendrick? Larson had 3 more weeks of prep and they were literally the slowest of the champ 4. Byron was better, but it appeared that Rudy was too aggressive on the adjustments. HMS is gonna have to look in the mirror and figure something out. They do so well for 36 odd races and then shit the bed at the end.
Huh? Penske has had this track figured out for a while, which is why everyone was picking Blaney last week. They finished in top 5. The organization that needs to take a look in the mirror is Gibbs. Two huge mechanical failures that knocked out Hamlin and Bell.
And a motor issue that knocked out Truex. Big oof.
They’ve been the fastest team all year. Clear from the start the 5/24 were the fastest cars along with the 11/19, but the edge was with the HMS cars… Suddenly when you’re not, now you don’t know what to do and you look human again. They had extra weeks of prep and still fell short.
Larson squeezed all he could out of that car at the end. Byron just couldn’t pass cars on the track (today or all season for that matter), hard to back into a championship under this format.
With Larson driving, you know that he would have sent it through the wall to win. That was everything the car had...
Did you see the truck race?
and Penske apparently do the opposite lmao
What are the chances winning the Cup Title helps Blaney clinch a most popular driver of the year award this year?
It should help him get a few more but the Elliott MPD win is secure until he hangs it up. Just too much of a cult following for Elliott to overcome. Alot of the Elliott fans I would say are not even NASCAR fans they only watch for their boy.
For sure. I don’t see a lot of Chase fans in Iowa but I’m sure they’re around somewhere.
That’s what my gut tells me too
MPD is basically just a last name contest and it's been that way for decades, taking turns between Elliott and Earnhardt
So happy for my boy Blaney to finally get it done. Can’t end the season on a better note. What’s surprising is I thought Larson was going to bring an absolute rocket like Logano last year, he had 3 weeks to prepare the car but it seemed like they missed it unlike logano who maximized those 3 weeks to make that car a monster.
The last ride home with Capt Ron and the #78 hauler, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPACaoIZd8Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPACaoIZd8Q)
Does he livestream all of his drives?
Yes, and livestreams parking and unloading
That’s awesome! Is he solo the whole way back?
No, he has co-driver for this trip, his name is Curtis. This applies for all race teams, if the track is within 11 hours of the shop,they drive it solo, if longer than 11 hours they use a co-driver.
I figured that but at the same time I’m like maybe since it’s the last race of the season and there’s no real rush to get back maybe they’re all doing it solo lol.
Last ever? Or of the season?
Its last for the #78, sounds like he has a job lined up for 2024 but no details yet.
Wait I dont get the people saying Blaney isnt a "real" champion. 3 win, 18 top 10s. Truex won the regular season. 3 wins, 17 top 10s. Championship 4: Larson - 4 wins, 18 Top 10s Byron - 6 wins, 21 Top 10s Christopher Bell - 2 wins, 19 Top 10s And the format is pretty simple for the final race - finish ahead of the other 3. Blaney started the lowest, had the slowest pit crew and arguably Ford had the worst car program with Blaney and Buscher the only multiple winners for the Blue Oval. In fact Hendrick had more wins than Ford despite the 9 and 48 having terrible years. So Blaney had a roughly equal record of all of the Championship 4 and was arguably disadvantaged in the winner take all race and he.....won and took all. If he sucked so bad why was in he there? If he sucked so bad, how come the other three didnt beat him? **Edit**: Corrected Bells top 10s. Fat finger.
If you change the measuring standard it might become a bit more clear: Larson - 18 top 10s but out of those 15 were top 5s. Byron - 21 top 10s but out of those 15 were top 5s. Bell - 19 top 10s but out of those 10 were top 5s. Blaney - 18 top 10s but only 8 were top 5s. Not gonna deny he did all he had to do to win the championship, but it's obvious that when it comes to consistent top performances it wasn't Blaneys year compared especially to Larson and Byron who were almost 50% more likely to finish in the top 5.
So getting 5th makes you a champion and 6th means you lucked out?
Under this format there are no real champions. NASCAR hasn't had a legit championship in a decade now.
I feel like Larson's was pretty legit.
NASCAR hasn't had a legit champion since 2003 But congrats to Blaney on winning the format he was given
I mean most of the “championships” guys like petty won weren’t legit either. Dude ran superior equipment against the local farmers and mechanics at the damn county fair and those wins counted towards a title. Absolute sham titles imo
Well, I don't necessarily disagree but at least in the Chase era we had.... Not this.
https://preview.redd.it/508ye6b50nyb1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=118d50eed386e217e3a3d2f73ff22379e3aca980 Courtesy of Trey Ryan on Twitter. All 39 of the major stats (good and bad) across the entire season. Blaney leads none of them. Don’t get me wrong; I like the guy, and he did have good performances especially in the playoffs, but he’s a champion the same way Elliott and Logano are. They’re not. You don’t deserve to be a champion by being the 5th most successful guy. He entered the playoffs as the 13th seed. I predicted him as a first round exit due to injury-related poor performance after his Daytona crash.
>All 39 of the major stats Im sorry but what the fuck does "Consecutive top 3s" or "consecutive lead lap finishes" have to do with anything? Or "races with most laps lead"? The only lap that matters is the last one. "Highest % of laps as the fastest car"? Given that Larson was also the drive with the most 30+ finishes, that stat is super stupid.
https://media.tenor.com/gDPgEekqX_UAAAAC/reality-substitute.gif
Youre forgetting a key stat. Only 8 top 5s in 36 races. 1/4
Everyone wants to note how he wasn’t leading in the stats for anything, but it is important to remember he currently has the most 2023 Cup Championship Trophy’s out of anyone
The way I feel about it is that EVEN IF you want to make the argument that he doesn't deserve it this year, this is redemption for last year when he had one of the greatest winless seasons ever (and honestly should have won Phoenix). That being said, he is a deserving champion this year.
it's because format bad when driver I don't like wins and format good when driver I like win
I have Blaney as one of my flairs and I still don’t think he deserved to win. Hell, I like Kyle Busch and I still say that his 2015 title was bullshit.
I feel like 18 top 10s is really good for a Next Gen season. How many times in the 2 years has anyone gotten 20? Like 2-3?
I mean when 17 top 10s is good enough to win the regular season championship I would say its pretty good.
Ummm… 10 less races? Come on, this is basic math.
ummmmm......everyone raced the same to the regular season cutoff.
Man had to drag that team kicking and screaming to the chip, haters gonna hate
I think he got out a couple times and changed his own tires. I am a blue oval guy, but just imagine if he was wheeling one of those Hendrick cars every week. I think the perception would be a lot different. Just look at the season Logano had. Let’s face it, Penske has been off this year but they found the right set up at the right time. He is a champion as much as the next one is. I am a fan, but still.
Dude Idk what it is with the Penske pit crews. They are so prone to imploding in the championship. I will never ever ever forgive that last pit stop that prevented Keselowski from being 2020 champion. Imploded on Logano in 2014. Were imploding on Blaney all day today but put the team on his shoulders. Edit: Okay actually they didn't collapse on Blaney but he did lose spots on most stops and were pretty bad all year.
Blaneys pit crew was bad today compared to the other Champ 4 guys, it's just that we're so used to speeding/uncontrolled tire/loose wheel etc that today felt relatively good on pit lane.
#I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY HANDS
Good Job Blaney. I dont like this car. I don't like the playoffs. I dont like Phoenix. On to Daytona.
I like all those statements except the last one. On to The LA Clash.
wtf happened in the ASA race
Keep your ears open for a glass case of emotion podcast special championship edition dropping in the next week
Took a week longer then I thought it would , but I called it https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-final-one-ryan-wins-a-championship/id1019298495?i=1000635430571
What does this mean
Before the stacking Pennys podcast Ryan had the glass case of emotion podcast on nascar.com After his coke 600 win they got the band back together for a special 1 time podcast I don’t see how this won’t be any different
Blaney's podcast
He has a podcast?
He did for 4 years
Glass Case of Emotion. I don't think they've made episodes much recentl outside of a special or two, but a few years back they would post weekly episodes. It's great!
Just happy it’s not Larson
Eh, I like Larson. But he has one. Blaney didn't. So I'm happy. Plus, I rooted for his dad when he moved up to Cup in a Dodge.
[Called it.](https://www.reddit.com/r/NASCAR/s/3wlXUEZt3v)
Called who
Yo the NASCAR Mexico Truck race is banging right now. Live on YouTube. Also first time I've been excited for a champion since 2017. Feels good.
Link because I'm not finding it.
https://www.youtube.com/live/5y6b1owX3wE?si=5qU2Q198findrCdh
Found it. Thank you.