Ryan Blaney 2026 Report Card: An A and a Last-Lap Finale Win
Welcome to the Happy Hour Racing 2026 Season Report Cards, where every full-time Cup Series driver gets a grade computed from all 36 races, not opinion. Next up: the driver who won the last race of the year, the number 12.
The Short Version
Ryan Blaney's 2026 season was one of the fastest in the Cup Series. He won four races, led 1,107 laps and spent more of his laps inside the top 15 than any other driver. He also crashed out six times, three of them in the 10-race Chase, and that is why he finished 4th in the standings, 94 points behind Kyle Larson. His computed season grade is an A, 3rd best of 35, and he closed the year by passing Tyler Reddick on the final lap at Homestead.
Why the Ryan Blaney 2026 Grade Is an A
Every HHR report card grade comes from the same math. After every race, each driver gets a score out of 100 based on where they finished in the field, how many spots they gained or lost from the start, how many laps they led, and a penalty for not finishing. The season grade is the average of all 36 race scores, curved against the 35 drivers who ran the full year.
Blaney's season score ranked 3rd of 35, which lands at A. Only Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick graded out higher. When the number 12 was running at the end, it was usually running up front. He had 23 top 10s, 2nd most in the series.
The crashes kept him out of the A+ group. Six DNFs ranked him 30th of 35 in that category, and every one of them was an accident.
Ryan Blaney by the Numbers
Here is where Blaney ranked among the 35 full-time drivers in 14 stats. The bar and the circle show his rank (1 is best). The number on the right is the actual stat.
The speed side of this card is close to perfect. Blaney ranked 1st in percentage of laps run in the top 15 (81 percent), 2nd in wins (4), 2nd in top 10s (23), 2nd in average driver rating (99.2), 2nd in fastest laps (657) and 2nd in average running position (10.7). He was 3rd in laps led.
The consistency side is the opposite. He ranked 26th in average positions gained, 30th in DNFs and 31st in finish spread. His average finish was 12.8, good for 4th, but it hides a lot of very good and very bad days.
A Strong Regular Season
Blaney won three times in the first 26 races. He won at Phoenix in March, then dominated Atlanta in July, leading 171 laps from the pole. In August he won at New Hampshire after leading 115 laps. He also finished 2nd at Bristol in April after leading 190 laps.
His regular-season average finish was 11.5, with 17 top 10s in 26 starts. The only real damage came on the superspeedways: crashes in the Daytona 500, at Talladega in April and at Daytona in August.
The Chase Went Sideways
The Chase is where Blaney's season unraveled. Three of his six crashes came in those 10 races, and a fourth bad night ended his title run:
- WWT Raceway, Sept. 13: NASCAR.com reported an apparent brake failure caused the crash. He finished 35th.
- Bristol, Sept. 19: he led a race-high 202 laps, then contact from Carson Hocevar while racing for 2nd with 43 laps to go put him in the wall. He finished 33rd. RACER reported the two fought on pit road afterward. NASCAR did not penalize either driver.
- Talladega, Oct. 25: another crash, 38th.
- Martinsville, Nov. 1: not a DNF, but a 35th after Josh Berry brake-checked him and damaged the nose. NASCAR later fined Berry $50,000 and docked him 25 points. That race ended Blaney's title hopes.
In between, the car was fast: 4th at Darlington, 5th at Kansas and Las Vegas, 3rd at Charlotte and 2nd at Phoenix. Then came Homestead. Blaney restarted 4th late, passed Bell and William Byron, then got by Reddick coming to the white flag and won by 0.314 seconds. It was his 21st Cup win and his second straight season-finale win.
What 2027 Looks Like
Blaney signed a long-term extension with Team Penske in May, and Jonathan Hassler was his crew chief for all 36 races in 2026. Every ride and crew chief move is on our 2027 silly season tracker.
The 2027 Daytona 500 is Feb. 21. Start times and channels for every race are on our race TV guide, and every other driver's grade is on the 2026 report cards page.
The Bottom Line
Blaney had the speed of a champion and the luck of a driver who kept getting caught in someone else's mess. Clean up the Chase and the number 12 is a title favorite in 2027.
Ryan Blaney Gear
- Ryan Blaney 2026 Quaker 400 Atlanta Win T-Shirt
- Ryan Blaney 2026 New Hampshire Win T-Shirt
- Ryan Blaney 2026 America 250 Coffee Mug
- Ryan Blaney 2024 Iowa Corn 350 Win T-Shirt
Sources: NASCAR official race results and loop data for all 36 2026 points races; WWT brake failure via NASCAR.com; Bristol and Martinsville details via RACER; Homestead finish via Kickin' the Tires and NBC Sports; contract extension via NASCAR.com.
