William Byron soared to glory at Martinsville Speedway. Despite being mired below the elimination cutline, he led three times for 304 laps at the Xfinity 500 and reversed his situation. This dominating performance left the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers in a fix. And four drivers could not make it through Phoenix: Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, and Chase Elliott. Let us take a deep dive into why things spiraled for all these otherwise stellar drivers.

Ryan Blaney was dangerously close to winning

Ever since the 2025 Cup Series season started, Team Penske was on a mission. Roger Penske’s side aimed to pick up its fourth consecutive championship – and Ryan Blaney was thoroughly invested. While William Byron dominated, Blaney was right behind him and led the secon

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