Ryan Blaney speeds into NASCAR playoffs after Daytona win while underdogs kicked to curb

Now, THAT’S what they had in mind when they made Daytona’s 400-miler the final race of the regular season and therefore the one final Hail Mary for those teams constantly a touchdown behind the bluebloods.

Go back and watch those final few laps and you’ll see what was envisioned several years ago when the Firecracker 400 (sorry) dumped July for late August. Look at some of those strangers who had real shots at a trophy and playoff ticket.

Justin Haley was right there. Cole Custer wasn’t just there, but a few lengths in front at the white flag (strategically dicey but still, a good look for the sponsors!). There was the throwback visual of Day-Glo Red and Petty Blue on the No. 43, and good grief, Erik Jones was diggin’ for the front.

Ryan Blaney bagged his second win of 2025 with three needy racers in his wake. And yes, that's the nose of the No. 43 back there in its familiar, long-ago colors.

Ryan Blaney bagged his second win of 2025 with three needy racers in his wake. And yes, that’s the nose of the No. 43 back there in its familiar, long-ago colors.

Hey, I think I even spotted the No. 5 of Kyle Larson! Remember him?

And though you hate to come off sounding mean — and for the record we’re against kicking excited puppies around here — in the end it worked out perfectly. Ryan Blaney threaded his way through traffic to get the win, and with that win, he kept the playoffs free from one more team without a snowball’s chance in August of making noise in the playoffs.

We’ll get deeper into that, among other things, as we depress that clutch and raise the RPMs.

First Gear: Bowman can be a Showman in the playoffs

Why throw cold water on the warm-and-fuzzy thoughts of, say, a Cole Custer or Justin Haley crashing the party at Darlington this week?

Alex Bowman, that’s why.

If one of 2025’s non-winners had taken the Daytona checkers, Bowman was booted from the playoff field. But they didn’t and he’s not. And from a competitive standpoint, that’s a good thing because Bowman is, yes, competitive.

Sure, his Hendrick Motorsports empire already had three of its four teams locked into the playoffs, and while a Bowman exit wouldn’t please his sponsor’s marketing team, it wouldn’t necessarily dent the Hendrick budget, much less crash it.

Bowman has been running among the leaders most weeks, though not winning. Yet.

A year ago, Joey Logano entered the playoffs as an afterthought, but clung to the lifeboat long enough — and got lucky thanks to that Roval penalty on (guess who!) Bowman — and found his horses at just the right time to kinda/sorta back-door a championship.

At Daytona, Bowman wrecked early and then sweated out Saturday night’s finish. It’s not often a guy finishes 36th and leaves town happy. The playoff tinkerers probably didn’t have that in mind when they moved Daytona to August, but overall, they’ll take it.

Second Gear: NASCAR playoff favorites not exactly rushing the stage

You shouldn’t put much stock in superspeedway results. The best teams can finish 24th and the worst can contend for a win.

So don’t take Blaney’s win as a sign he’s speeding into the playoffs with the wind at his back.

No, take that, along with his previous several weeks, as the sign.

He’s finished eighth or better in each of the past six races, capped by Saturday’s win. Not bad. But also, he’s led a minimum of 14 laps in each of the last five races. Those five tracks included a big track (Indy), three short-to-shortish tracks (Dover, Richmond, Iowa), a road course (Watkins Glen) and then the “plate-race” at Daytona.

A few other drivers enter the playoffs in decent form, but the oddsmakers’ favorites seem to be favorites because of reputation and team surroundings — Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, etc.

But only Blaney enters with consistent decency, and now a Daytona win, for what it’s worth.

Third Gear: Load the trucks, too, for playoff run

Here’s a little something from the oh-by-the-way department: The Truck Series also begins its playoffs at Darlington.

Compared to the Cuppers, it’s a slim postseason: 10 racers, seven races. The Round of 10, consisting of three races, will eliminate two drivers. The Round of 8, also three races, eliminates four and sends the final four to Phoenix for the championship race.

Here are the 10 truckers, in order of point totals, with a chance to load a big trophy in the make-believe bed of their NASCAR racing trucks: Corey Heim, Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum, Ty Majeski, Grant Emfinger, Rajah Caruth, Kaden Honeycutt, Jake Garcia.

Heim, driving a Toyota for David Gilliland’s Tricon Garage team, has been dominant this year, winning seven times in 18 starts and piling up playoff bonus points. But he was also dominant last year, when he ended the season four seconds behind Ty Majeski at the Phoenix finale.

As for the Xfinity Series, two regular-season races remain before the seven-race playoffs begin at Bristol on Sept. 12.

Fourth Gear: Can’t overestimate Humpy Wheeler’s contributions

As you know by now, Humpy Wheeler died this past week at age 86. And while you may have read the stories and become aware — or were reminded — of his many contributions to auto racing, you should probably know this.

Those stories aren’t just the glowing plaudits given to a man upon his departure, not just the required niceties of obit writing. Hardly. What Humpy brought to NASCAR, specifically, can’t be overstated.

His most visible work came during his three-plus decades running Charlotte Motor Speedway for track owner Bruton Smith. In way earlier times, Bruton had been a competitor to Big Bill France and his upstart NASCAR efforts.

But as those frictions cooled, Bruton hired Humpy and, perhaps a bit ironically, that pairing did a whole lot for NASCAR. The most obvious contribution was the once-crazy thought that, yes, you can illuminate the biggest racetracks and go night-racin’.

But there were many other contributions, including his no-holds-barred pre-race entertainment packages, which at times reminded you of the stories you’ve read about the long-ago promotional heavyweight, P.T. Barnum — in fact, at times you could imagine Barnum watching one of Humpy’s productions and asking, “Isn’t it all a little much?”

Maybe, at times, you could make that argument, but all in all, it was just right and just what NASCAR needed.

— Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR from Daytona to Darlington as Ryan Blaney kicks some puppies

Ryan Blaney speeds into NASCAR playoffs after Daytona win while underdogs kicked to curb

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