Ryan Blaney: “I probably would have scared” Kyle…

If there is one driver notorious for being able to find speed over the course of a long run, it's 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney. The final run at Kansas was easily the longest of the day, which played right into his hands. But despite that, he still needed it to be a little bit longer.

Team Penske entered the weekend trying to win three consecutive races after Austin Cindric's victory at Talladega and Joey Logano's win at Texas. The freshly-shaven, now beard-less Blaney was the man leading that charge for 'The Captain' at Kansas, but he was running fifth and over five seconds behind race leader Kyle Larson with around 20 laps to go.

But this is where Blaney showed his strength, quietly marching forward and nearly taking second from Christopher Bell right at the finish line. He was also within a second of Larson as he captured the checkered flag, simply running out of time while posting the fastest laps of any of the front-runners.

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford (Photo by: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

"I think we were third in both stages and finished third, and honestly we were kind of running those guys down quick there at the end the last handful of laps," said Blaney. "I just kind of restarted too far back and had to make up a lot of ground.

"It took a lot for my car to come in. I think five more laps, I think I probably would have scared the #5 [Larson] a little bit at least.

"But no, really proud of the 12 boys today ... Really good last couple weeks bringing fast race cars. Hopefully we can continue to do that, keep learning and move forward, but overall a really good weekend.

Although still winless in 2025, Blaney remains a weekly threat near the front of the field. This is his fourth top-five finish in the last five races, leading the way for the Blue Ovals (Ford) at Kansas.