When he spoke to CBS Sports at the outset of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Ryan Blaney shared that above all else, he entered this year's race for the championship motivated by the opportunity to win back-to-back Cup titles -- something only a select few elites to ever set foot in a stock car have ever been able to lay a claim to.
Throughout NASCAR's history, only 10 drivers have been able to win the Cup championship in consecutive years. The great Buck Baker was first to do so in 1956 and 1957, and following him were Lee Petty (1958-59), Joe Weatherly (1962-63), David Pearson (1968-69), Richard Petty (1971-72, 74-75), Cale Yarborough (1976-1978), Darrell Waltrip (1981-82), Dale Earnhardt (1986-87, 1990-91, 93-94), Jeff Gordon (1997-98) and Jimmie Johnson (2006-10).
It's been nearly 15 years since Johnson's record streak of five consecutive titles, which is partially a product of NASCAR's playoff era presenting so many variables and so many obstacles in the way of repeat champions. But by using the system to his advantage, earning a walk-off win at Martinsville to seize a Championship 4 spot, Blaney has given himself a chance to achieve that feat and satisfy the desire he has felt to feel the same feelings he did at this time a year ago.
"I don't know the explanation, but I've been so much more hungry to try to win a second one than I was trying to get my first, if that makes any sense," Blaney told CBS Sports in September. "Because you get a taste of that success and you get a taste of the championship, but you're greedy and you want seconds and thirds and things like that. I think it's even more on the top of our brains because you've done it.
"I think there's a big difference in believing you can do it and knowing you can do it because you've achieved it. Everyone believes they can do it, but until you actually know that you can do it and you've accomplished it, then you're like, 'Alright, it's solidified we have what it takes to do this -- let's do it again.' So I think you've got to get that feeling again, and once you have it you want to figure out how to get it back. And the only way to get it back is winning another title."
Considering the groundswell of momentum he now enters Phoenix with, Blaney sits atop all Championship 4 drivers in the new CBS Sports NASCAR Power Rankings entering the season finale and Championship Race:
| Rank | Driver | Change | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | It's a little early to think about this, but winning back-to-back championships would probably entrench Ryan Blaney as a future NASCAR Hall of Famer. Blaney's win total certainly helps on that front, as his 13 career wins are well more than several drivers already in the Hall of Fame, including Donnie Allison (10), who was just inducted a year ago. | ||
| 2 | Tyler Reddick | What's at stake this weekend for Tyler Reddick? Oh, just Michael Jordan's first championship in any professional sport since he won his final NBA title back in 1998. No big deal. | ||
| 3 | William Byron | -- | Assuming William Byron does not win the Championship Race but is the highest finishing Championship 4 driver, he will win the championship despite having not won a race since all the way back in the eighth race of the season at Martinsville in April. The last time that sort of thing happened was in 2003, when Matt Kenseth's only win en route to the championship came in the third race of the season. | |
| 4 | Joey Logano | Where Joey Logano and his race team have been at their best all season long is on short tracks and small ovals. Phoenix fits the bill when it comes to the latter. Look out -- here comes Logano! | ||
| 5 | Christopher Bell | There's got to be a poetic way to describe Christopher Bell's wall ride in Turn 4 that resulted in him being issued a penalty that knocked him out of the Championship 4. I've heard "Fail Melon" and I think it might be a little harsh, but it probably suits the situation. | ||
| 6 | Kyle Larson | Time for the debate as to whether Kyle Larson missing the Coca-Cola 600 to run the Indianapolis 500 cost him his chance at the 2024 title. Larson missed the final round by seven points, which theoretically is the amount of playoff points he could have earned had he won the Coke 600 and also won two of the three stages in that race. | ||
| 7 | Chase Elliott | Crew chief Alan Gustafson deserves a lot of credit for the way he called the Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville. Gustafson's strategy played a large part in putting his driver in a position to both win and make the Championship 4 when only a win would do. | ||
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | Denny Hamlin is in a position now where he can become the latest Cup driver to win a championship as the owner of a team he does not drive for. If you'll remember, Jeff Gordon was the listed owner of the No. 48 car driven by Jimmie Johnson for all those championships he won in the late 2000s. | ||
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | Leading the most laps at Martinsville wasn't any of the playoff drivers, but in fact Brad Keselowski. The 170 laps that Keselowski led last Sunday are the most he has led in any Cup race since he led 192 in the 2020 Bristol Night Race | ||
| 10 | Alex Bowman | It's all a moot point in the end, I guess. Even if he hadn't been disqualified at the Charlotte Roval and made the Round of 8, Alex Bowman still would have missed the Championship 4 by 49 points. | ||
| 11 | Ross Chastain | Just for the heck of it after NASCAR made their call on Christopher Bell, I asked Ross Chastain when I spotted him in the garage area if he had any opinion on Bell's wall ride and NASCAR's decision. He said he didn't: "I don't think anything. My head's down." | ||
| 12 | Martin Truex Jr. | If he doesn't win Phoenix and ride off into the sunset that way, it was good to see the sort of reception Martin Truex Jr. got from the fans at Martinsville after winning the pole. Truex was loudly cheered after taking the top spot in qualifying and also received loud cheers during driver intros on Sunday. | ||
| 13 | Carson Hocevar | When he takes the checkered flag on Sunday, Carson Hocevar will become the third driver from the state of Michigan to win Cup Rookie of the Year honors. Hocevar will join his mentor Johnny Benson (1996) and his fellow competitor Erik Jones (2017). | ||
| 14 | Bubba Wallace | Perhaps Bubba Wallace will be keeping a close eye on what happens in Friday night's Craftsman Truck Series championship race. Charles Denike, his new crew chief for 2025, has a chance to win the Truck title with driver Christian Eckes and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. | ||
| 15 | Chase Briscoe | Who knows when we'll see the No. 14 in the Cup Series again once Stewart-Haas Racing shuts its doors. Prior to Tony Stewart taking the number of his boyhood idol A.J. Foyt when he joined forces with Gene Haas, the No. 14 had last been used in the Cup Series by Sterling Marlin for two seasons at MB2 Motorsports and later the ill-fated Ginn Racing. | ||
| 16 | Noah Gragson | The Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 car that Noah Gragson drives first went full-time in the Cup Series in 2013, and its history started with a bang: Danica Patrick won the pole for the 2013 Daytona 500, becoming the first (and still only) woman to ever start first in a Cup race. | ||
| 17 | Chris Buescher | Keep an eye on Chris Buescher as a driver who could potentially insert himself into the fray at the front of the field in the Championship Race. Buescher ran second at Phoenix back in the spring. | ||
| 18 | Ryan Preece | Spoiler Alert: Following Homestead, NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran shared that Ryan Preece had participated in a wet weather rules package test driving the No. 60 for RFK Racing, which Moran stated was Preece's ride for 2025. | ||
| 19 | Austin Cindric | With events in the closing laps at Martinsville considered, there's going to be a lot of attention paid to what Austin Cindric does at Phoenix considering he is the only Team Penske driver not in the Championship 4. But Cindric has his own personal objectives to consider, as one more top five will allow him to match his personal-best for a single season (five) in that category. | ||
| 20 | Daniel Suarez | If I were Daniel Suarez, I wouldn't want 2024 to end. Between his win at Atlanta, becoming a U.S. citizen, getting married, and announcing NASCAR will go to his home country of Mexico in 2025, it's been an absolutely magical year for Suarez both on and off the racetrack. | ||
| 21 | Michael McDowell | Michael McDowell's 500th Cup start at Martinsville marked a natural opportunity for the 2021 Daytona 500 to reflect on all that it's taken for him to get to this point. During his media session, McDowell pointed to late in the 2009 season when he received the opportunity to drive Tommy Baldwin's car, which got him back in a Cup car after he had lost his ride late in his rookie season the previous year. | ||
| 22 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | After seeing the "Happy Halloween" message under the Colgatelogo on the hood of Ricky Stenhouse's car, I said something about brushing your teeth so you don't get cavities from Halloween candy on my X account. Sunday night, Colgate's account replied saying they agreed -- which raises the question of why Colgate's social media manager is still working past 11 p.m. on a Sunday night. | ||
| 23 | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch's 2024 season started with a loose wheel in the Daytona 500. It'll end with two of his crew members getting suspended for leaving a wheel loose at Martinsville. He just wants this year to be over. | ||
| 24 | Daniel Hemric | While I was exploring the grid prior to the start of Sunday's race, I spotted Daniel Hemric having a nice conversation with good personal friend Bubba Wallace. Must have been talking about golfing, which is an activity they're known to enjoy. | ||
| 25 | Zane Smith | It was this time two years ago when Zane Smith became a NASCAR champion, taking the checkered flag in the Truck Series championship race to bring Front Row Motorsports its first ever championship. We'll see if Smith and FRM reunite for 2025, but it sure feels like the right fit for both parties. | ||
| 26 | Justin Haley | Something to look for early in 2025 will be exactly how fast a start Justin Haley gets with new crew chief Rodney Childers taking over his program. Childers' final race with Stewart-Haas will be this weekend before he moves to Spire, where he is expected to elevate both the No. 7 car and the program as a whole. | ||
| 27 | Todd Gilliland | Carson Hocevar didn't make a ton of friends at Martinsville, especially not Todd Gilliland after Hocevar caused an accident that spun Gilliland around. While I was standing in Turns 1 and 2 I noticed Gilliland ran Hocevar up the hill at one point. | ||
| 28 | Josh Berry | Josh Berry has the chance in 2025 to become the driver who gets Wood Brothers Racing wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in a long time. The Wood Brothers haven't won a Cup race in consecutive years since 1986 and 1987, when Kyle Petty earned the first two wins of his career. | ||
| 29 | Corey LaJoie | The fastest lap in Sunday's race at Martinsville belonged to Corey LaJoie, but he didn't have anything to show for it. LaJoie had to go to the garage area with oil pressure issues and went many laps down before dropping out of the race for good. | ||
| 30 | Ty Gibbs | In other sports they talk about something called "competitive stamina" and being able to sustain the same level of performance over a long game or long season. Considering the whimper they've ended the 2024 season on, Ty Gibbs and his team look like they need to work on theirs. |
