Editor‘s note: This is the 25th in a series in which we review the top 30 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in reverse order of the 2025 final standings.
Driver: Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Crew Chief: Jonathan Hassler
Final 2025 Ranking: 6th
Key Stats: 4 wins, 15 top fives, 19 top 10s, 852 laps led
How 2025 ended: It’s hard to end a season any better than Ryan Blaney did, using a mash of momentum through the final two turns at Phoenix Raceway to power past Brad Keselowski to win the season finale. A runner-up effort in the Martinsville Speedway semifinal left Blaney out of Championship 4 contention in 2025, but Blaney’s campaign was in many ways his best yet. The 10th-year driver collected career highs in wins and top fives, banking three victories in the final 11 races of the season, but a four-race stretch of finishes of 13th or worse during the playoffs ultimately hindered Blaney’s chances of advancing to the title race for the third time in a row.
Best race: Blaney’s June performance at Nashville Superspeedway ultimately rang loudest from 2025, leading a race-high 139 of 300 laps despite qualifying 15th to score his first win of the season and lock him into the playoffs. But a close second to Nashville has to be Blaney’s September triumph at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the Round of 12 opener in the NASCAR Playoffs. On a day dominated by Team Penske’s Fords, Blaney led 116 of 301 laps after qualifying second and propelled his way into the Round of 8 for the seventh time in his career.
Other season highlights: In addition to those two impressive wins, Blaney also played spoiler in the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, fending off multiple last-minute charges from desperate drivers like Daniel Suárez, Justin Haley, Cole Custer and Erik Jones, who were fighting for a playoff berth. Blaney started from the pole for that summer race and led 27 laps en route to the win. The No. 12 Ford also had an outstanding performance going at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March, leading 124 of 267 laps before his engine failed with 60 laps to go.
Stat to know: There was a unique yin-and-yang effect to Blaney’s statistics from the 2025 season. His 852 laps led were by far a career high, bettering his previous best of 668 from 2020. However, Blaney also collected a career-worst eight DNFs. Three of those came consecutively during a rough spell in March with engine failures in Phoenix and Miami sandwiching a crash-out in Las Vegas. But five other crashes throughout the season ousted the No. 12 Ford from competition before the race concluded.
Quotable: “I know that we didn’t make the Champ 4 this year, but I feel like this team was even better than last year — just our integrity of how we clawed back from some early miscues, a lot of DNFs early. Just the mental strength of this whole group, I was really proud. I was proud of my guys for getting better and better every week and every year.” — Ryan Blaney on the strength and improvements of the No. 12 team in 2025.
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Looking ahead: Year after year — and with no disrespect toward teammates Joey Logano or Austin Cindric — Blaney emerges as Team Penske’s most consistent threat to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship. That should continue into the new year as Blaney maintains his ascent toward new peaks and inches toward a second Bill France Cup with no imminent signs of slowing down.