MARTINSVILLE, VA. | November 3, 2024 - Ryan Blaney, needing a win in order to advance to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, passed Chase Elliott with 14 laps remaining to win Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway and qualify for a chance at his second straight title.

Blaney will join Penske teammate Joey Logano in the final group, along with Toyota’s Tyler Reddick and Chevrolet’s William Byron.

The win marked the second straight year Blaney has won the Martinsville elimination race, and he did it in dramatic fashion as a mix of pit strategy put some contenders on offense and others on defense. Blaney was one of those who charged through the field after taking on tires under caution with 100 laps to go. He worked his way up to fourth with 54 laps to go and then third 13 laps later before running down Elliott and passing him as they came to the start-finish line on lap 486.

In addition to earning his third win of the year, Blaney’s triumph was the 100th all-time Cup win for Team Penske with Ford.

Four Ford drivers finished the race in the top 10. Austin Cindric finished fourth while Brad Keselowski, who won stage two, was ninth and Logano 10th.

Team Penske and Ford will go for a third consecutive series championship on Sunday, Nov. 10 at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

NCS RACE TOP-10 FINISHERS
1st - Ryan Blaney
2nd - Chase Elliott
3rd - Kyle Larson
4th - Austin Cindric
5th - Denny Hamlin
6th - William Byron
7th - Austin Dillon
8th - Ross Chastain
9th - Brad Keselowski
10th - Joey Logano

REMAINING FORD FINISHERS
11th - Noah Gragson
14th - Ryan Preece
15th - Chase Briscoe
16th - Josh Berry
26th - Todd Gilliland
27th - Kaz Grala
30th - Chris Buescher
33rd - Michael McDowell
35th - Corey LaJoie
36th - Harrison Burton
37th - Josh Bilicki

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW -- YOUR EMOTIONS RIGHT NOW ON WHAT YOU DID TODAY? “I’m worn out. It’s hard. The last 70 or so laps I tried to save my rears the best I could because that’s where I started struggling later in the runs. I hated I had to lay the bumper to some guys, but I had to do it. It was nice to pass the 9 clean. I layed the bumper to a couple guys that I wish I didn’t have to, but I needed to get going, so it was a long night. I appreciate everybody for getting better through the night. Thank goodness. I think that’s the most tired I’ve been after a race in a long time.”

WAS THERE A POINT IN THE FINAL 70 LAPS THAT YOU LOST HOPE OR YOU GAINED HOPE? “Part of me was nervous because when I got to the 6 earlier, like the run or two before, I just lost so much rear drive and I couldn’t drive under him. I felt like my rears were hanging on a little bit better that last run, and it started to seem like the 5 and the 9 were starting to struggle on corner exit and that’s where I was able to do it. We definitely got the car better and it allowed me to kind of fade up the track and turn under, where I couldn’t really do it before. Props to Jonathan for tuning her up.”

WHAT ABOUT THE MOMENTUM GOING TO PHOENIX? “Yeah, a lot of momentum. It’s nice to have two Penske cars in. It’s nice to join the 22 and have a decent shot to bring Roger another title, a third title in a row, so these guys are the best at what they do and it’s been so much fun to get to run with them and share wins and championships. It’s super strong right now in our organization and hopefully it carries over.”

TEAM PENSKE ALL-TIME FORD CUP SERIES WINNERS
33 – Joey Logano
26 – Brad Keselowski
23 – Rusty Wallace
12 – Ryan Blaney
3 – Jeremy Mayfield
2 – Austin Cindric
1 – Ryan Newman

MILESTONE WINS BY TEAM PENSKE WITH FORD

• Feb. 27, 1994 – Rusty Wallace scores the organization’s first win with Ford when he captured the Goodwrench 500 at North Carolina Motor Speedway.
• March 26, 2000 – Rusty Wallace wins at Bristol Motor Speedway, marking the 50th NASCAR Cup Series victory of his career.
• Aug. 18, 2013 – Joey Logano wins his first race with Team Penske and delivers the inaugural Heritage Trophy, given by Michigan International Speedway, to Ford.
• Feb, 22, 2015 – Joey Logano wins the Daytona 500.
• Sept. 10, 2018 – Brad Keselowski delivers the first Brickyard 400 win to owner Roger Penske.
• Sept. 16, 2018 – Brad Keselowski registers the 500th organizational victory for Team Penske with his win in the playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Sept. 30, 2018 – Ryan Blaney wins the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race on the Charlotte Roval.
• Nov. 18, 2018 – Joey Logano captures his first career NASCAR Cup Series championship by winning the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
• Feb. 24, 2019 – Brad Keselowski wins the first NASCAR Cup Series race in a Mustang after taking the checkered flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• March 29, 2021 – Joey Logano wins the first dirt race in the NASCAR Cup Series in 50 years by taking the inaugural Bristol Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Feb. 6, 2022 – Joey Logano kicks off the Next Gen era by winning the inaugural Clash at the Coliseum at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
• Feb. 20, 2022 – Rookie Austin Cindric wins the Daytona 500 in his eighth NASCAR Cup Series start.
• Nov. 3, 2024 – Ryan Blaney wins Team Penske’s 100th NASCAR Cup Series race with

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It was a top 10. That’s what it was. The focus has been on Phoenix and hopefully it pays a dividend next weekend where we can unload with a lot of speed and have a race car that can go up there and run up front and win a championship.  

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We started last. We had to go to the back to start stage three and we had a really fast race car. It was a good strategy call there by Brian, putting it in my hands at the end with old tires. Honestly, probably a few more laps we would have had third, so I’m proud of everybody’s effort. The whole team collaboration this weekend and most importantly, getting Ryan in the Championship 4. We’ve got a 50 percent shot of Team Penske to win next week, so that’s awesome. It’s well-deserved by everybody on the team and after my last three weeks this feels nice, but we definitely had to work for it today.”

NOAH GRAGSON, No. 10 Bed, Bath & Beyond Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We came up one spot short from a top 10. I really want that, but, overall, a good day for the No. 10 team and Stewart-Haas. The 41 and 14 ran up front for a good majority of the day and for us to come home 11th, we started 25th. We need to get our qualifying a little better, but I think we know what we need to work on. I’m just super proud of the determination and focus out of our group this weekend. We’ve got one more.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Our car started pretty good and we just continued on and it just got worse as the day went on. We never really made it better. It’s frustrating for sure. I felt like we had a car definitely capable of running in the top five and we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We’ve got to get better.”

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES (November 2 – Martinsville)

• Cole Custer advanced to the Championship 4 after a fourth-place finish on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
• Custer, who won the championship a year ago, will have an opportunity to become the ninth driver in series history to win multiple titles.
• Custer led 17 laps and finished in the top 10 of all three stages.
• The Xfinity Series championship race is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9 at Phoenix Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET, CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES (November 1 – Martinsville)

• Ty Majeski’s 11th-place run was good enough to clinch a spot in the Championship 4, meaning he will compete for the series title.
• Ben Rhodes finished second and Layne Riggs sixth to lead Ford.
• Rhodes led 12 laps and was in front with three laps to go when he got shoved up the track by eventual race winner, Christian Eckes.
• The Xfinity Series championship race will take place Friday night, Nov. 8 at Phoenix Raceway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).