May 4, 2025
Ryan Blaney of Team Penske will start 24th for this week's Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. This is the fourth race this season where Blaney has a starting position outside of the top 20. In 16 races at Texas in his Cup career, Blaney has 10 top-20 finishes with eight inside the top 10 and an average finish of 17.4. Through the first 10 races of the 2025 season, Blaney has six top-20 finishes and an average finish of 18.7. In practice for Sunday's race, Blaney ranked 19th in overall lap averages, fourth in 10 consecutive lap averages, and 13th in 15 consecutive lap averages. Based on his practice speeds and equipment, Blaney should take advantage of his high upside and be able to compete for a top-10 finish. This makes him one of the top overall DFS options of the week, especially for cash game lineups.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 28, 2025
Team Penske's Ryan Blaney looked to have a quality finish for the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, but left the race early after unfortunate circumstances. In the first stage, Blaney started from the ninth position, but quickly shuffled back to the middle part of the pack as other racers passed him. The No. 12 Ford driver then rode around until pit stops were occurring around laps 41-43. On lap 43, Kyle Busch tried merging onto pit road but lost control of his car, making contact with Brad Keselowski, who went up the track and in front of Blaney. With no place to go to avoid crashing, Blaney suffered damage and had to be towed back to the garage. Although his team attempted to repair the damage on Blaney's car, they decided the damage was too severe to repair, leaving Blaney out of the race. Blaney would end up placing 37th with a DNF due to an accident for the second consecutive Talladega race.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
April 27, 2025
Ryan Blaney is the favorite to win the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend according to sportsbooks across the country. The Team Penske driver is one of the best at superspeedway racing and was a strong contender at both Daytona and Atlanta earlier this season. Here at Talladega specifically, Blaney is a three-time winner and has finished first or second in three of his six starts here in the Next Gen era. This weekend, Blaney will roll off the starting grid from ninth-place when the Jack Link's 500 goes green. This gives him a little bit of Place Differential upside with obvious race-winning potential as well. When it comes to DFS contests, Blaney is sure to be one of the higher-owned drivers on the slate. While it's important to have some exposure to a strong drafter like him, there's a strategy play in being underweight to the field in tournaments due to the volatile nature of races at Talladega.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: CBS Sports
April 17, 2025
Team Penske's Ryan Blaney finished Sunday's Food City 500 in fifth position at Bristol Motor Speedway. Beginning the race from the same position, Blaney quietly ran inside the top 10 and avoided any incidents and damage during the first stage. He would end the stage in the seventh position and earn three stage points. During the second stage, Blaney tried using an alternative pit strategy by pitting on lap 182, unlike the other top leaders of the race, to get fresher tires. However, this strategy didn't get Blaney right to the front, as even with a tire advantage, he finished the second stage in eighth, nabbing two more stage points. In the final stage, Blaney took another risky strategy by staying out and hoping for a caution while staying ahead of everyone for track position. A caution never came, and Blaney gave up the lead as he went to pit road on lap 439. The No. 12 Ford driver spent the rest of the race making up the spots he lost, and by the end of the race, he drove back to fifth. This marks the third time in his Cup career that Blaney scored a top-5 finish at Bristol and the third top-5 this season for the No. 12 driver.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com