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The Team Penske driver put in a valiant effort to hunt down Logano with just a handful of laps to go in the Championship 4 race. However, the #12 couldn’t find a way past the #22 and ultimately settled for second.
Post-race, Blaney was attended to in the pit lane by trackside medical staff. NASCAR’s broadcast showed Blaney knelt on the ground.
“I was tired, man,” Blaney recounted of the post-race scenes.
“I was driving hard and huffing and puffing and felt like I was going to pass out after the race.
“I was working hard trying to close the gap down. There were a lot of similarities to last week and just didn’t quite get there this week.”
Blaney earned his way into the Championship 4 race with victory at Martinsville Speedway.
The Ford Mustang driver was in a must-win position going into the penultimate race of the season and booked himself a spot in style.
Blaney makes a charge, but it’s not enough! @joeylogano is the champion in 2024! #Championship4 pic.twitter.com/HHFZV7GfkG
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 10, 2024
However, when it came to the race at Phoenix, last year’s champion said he couldn’t overcome the impact of the dirty air as he raced forward.
“Everybody put on defensive clinics today, everybody I tried to pass. Everybody did. So props to them for that. They did a great job,” said Blaney.
“It’s just what you have to do. I mean, the #5 did it to me, the #24 did it to me, the #22 did it to me. It’s just what you’ve got to do if you’re struggling, and it just buys you time.
“It’s just part of the sport because it’s so powerful. The defensive line is so powerful of dirty air. You have to do it if you have a faster car behind you coming down in these moments.
“I don’t blame them for doing it. Is it the funnest thing in the world? No. Because I’ve lived that story many, many times.
“I had to work my ass off to get by the #5, and I had to work my ass off to get to the #24 and pass him, and I had to work my tail off to run Joey down from a long ways back.
“As I’m doing it, I’m thinking to myself, I think I’m going to get there, get close; but I don’t know if I’m going to have anything to pass him, but I can’t save because I’m never going to get there if I save.
“Martinsville was a little bit different because I had more laps left. Here… I really just had to use my shit up really hard to get close, and then yeah, just didn’t really have anything left there.
“So it was a little bit of both. My tyres were spent and he did a good job of placing his car where he needed to be.”
