Through the 2026 NASCAR campaign so far, Ford has been unable to match the pace of either Toyota or Chevrolet. But Ryan Blaney has been able to keep himself in the championship contention throughout. After his win at Atlanta, NASCAR analysts Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi believe that he is still in contention for the championship title. 

After starting the Quaker State 400 from pole, the Team Penske driver led 171 out of 263 laps to win the race. The victory marked Ford’s 750th win in NASCAR and cut Blaney’s deficit to the championship leader, Denny Hamlin, down to 65 points. 

While discussing Blaney's flowery situation amid Ford's slump on "The Teardown" podcast, Jordan Bianchi said:

"We know all the issues that Ford has had this year. That said, I do think we have to start giving Ryan Blaney serious consideration to winning this championship."

The remaining speedways will favor Blaney's racecraft, as Bianchi explained.

"And here's why. We've got North Wilkesboro next week. We've got Iowa, we have New Hampshire, we have Richmond, and then we have Daytona. Those are all tracks where Toyota's superiority should be negated a little bit, and those are tracks where Blaney has ran well the last few years, and Ford has been able to hang on there, particularly New Hampshire, particularly Daytona," he added.

The NASCAR analyst wrapped up his argument, stating that the championship fight is no longer just between Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin but is now a three-way fight including Blaney.

"Blaney, despite Ford's issues, despite Penske's issues, continues to hang in this thing and keeps whittling this away," Bianchi concluded.

Blaney had many pit stop issues early in the season and saw changes made to his crew midway through the season because of the nature of the blunders.

As for Ford, it is last in the NASCAR Cup Series manufacturers' championship with 677 points. So far this season, Ford has bagged only two wins, both of which were delivered by Ryan Blaney. In comparison, Chevrolet has six, and Toyota has 12.

Ryan Blaney reflects on his NASCAR Cup race win at Atlanta

Despite being able to lead a race-high of 171 laps at the NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway, the race victory was far from easy for the Team Penske driver. He found himself in a close battle with Carson Hocevar on the last lap.

With a little help from Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell, Blaney got the push he needed to get the win. During the post-race interview with TNT Sports, he thanked Wallace. 

"Bubba gave me some really good shoves on the restart; we got hooked up really good, and then yeah, we – gosh, Bubba and I got huge run down the front straightaway, and I was able to get to the outside of Carson," he said (via TNT Sports on X). 

He further praised Bell and thanked him for the shove he needed. Blaney said, 

"And then Bubba went three wide bottom down the back and lined up for a really cool finish at the line, and I really have to shout out Christopher Bell for him to ride my bumper all the way to 3 and 4. In a way, he was a big reason why we won the race, so I appreciate that, Christopher."

With six races to go in the regular season, it will be interesting to see if Ryan Blaney can catch up to Denny Hamlin for the NASCAR Cup Series driver's championship. 

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Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Yash Kotak