Ryan Blaney Won't Relax After Loudon Win Vaults Him to Next Playoff Round

LOUDON, N.H. — Ryan Blaney winning the playoff race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway certainly helps his chances of winning a second Cup title.

But shortly after he celebrated the victory holding a lobster in victory lane, he wouldn’t say that this was the catch needed to feel that he could win it all in 2025.

"I don't think the win makes me feel any more that way," Blaney said. "I think we can contend. This team has been really good all year. 

"It's a championship-contending team. It's a championship-winning team a couple years ago. It's pretty much the same group of guys. My mindset really hasn't changed. I believed we can do it all season, and this win doesn't make me believe we can do it even more than what I felt like going through the whole year."

Ryan Blaney celebrates after winning at New Hampshire.

The whole year has not gone smoothly for Blaney, who has had seven races where he failed to finish. He led laps in 10 of the first 21 races but has now led laps in eight of the last nine events. 

He has won two of the last five races, capturing the regular-season finale at Daytona and now the opening race of the quarterfinal round (Round of 12) of the playoffs.

The win Sunday earned him an automatic bid into the semifinal round (Round of Eight). This gives him two weeks without having to worry because he can race at Kansas and at the Charlotte road course knowing that how he finishes won't impact his advancing. But if he can earn a stage win or a race win in either of those races, the playoff points earned could help him advance.

So he can play with a little more freedom when it comes to strategy.

"It opens up your box a little bit, and it makes you feel a little bit better if it doesn't work out," Blaney said. "If it