Denny Hamlin Explains the “Masterful” Factor That Earned Ryan Blaney the Daytona Win

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin on his podcast has explained what earned Ryan Blaney the win at Daytona Coke 400.

Denny Hamlin Explains the “Masterful” Factor That Earned Ryan Blaney the Daytona Win

Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin (Via @DAYTONA/X and IMAGO)

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The NASCAR Cup garage came to Daytona International Speedway last race week expecting a clutch win from the drivers in the bubble, changing the playoff dynamic. Instead, they witnessed a wild run from Team Penske Racing’s Ryan Blaney, who won the Coke 400 in a four wide battle, against racers in must win situation, breaking their hearts.

With just two laps left in the race Ryan Blaney found himself pushing Ford teammate Cole Custer from P13 in the field. The duo charged upfront, and on the final lap the 2023 Cup champion took over the lead with an opportunistic move to secure victory. Joe Gibbs Racing Denny Hamlin, on his podcast, credited the racers masterful patience for the win.

He was masterful in being patient. What I saw was he was very patient and if you notice, he didn’t make a whole lot of moves. He allowed others to make moves and then he just held steady.

Denny Hamlin said on the Actions Detrimental.

Blaney assessed the situation better than anyone on the day and used his experience to make drivers around him pick their duels and took advantage of their slip up. The No:12 team spotter played significant role in it, as it was challenging to balance the push from Daniel Suarez, while keeping Custer and Justin Haley behind.

He knows who his help is. His spotter’s doing a good job telling him who’s behind him. At the time I think it was the 99 that was pushing him. He seemed pretty committed to him, so he wasn’t one of those guys weaving between lanes and all this other stuff.

Denny Hamlin added.

The Mustang driver kept his cool when it mattered the most, kept the car on the top-lane, knowing it was the fastest and kept racing in the space, unlike the youngsters that was making multiple moves behind him. In the words of the three times Daytona 500 champion, Blaney just kept racing on he line, while the drivers ahead of moved between the lane to block, eventually giving him the lead.

He just was very patient in saying, ‘The top line is going to prevail here, so I’m going to stay in it.’ And as people start to get toward the front, they’re peeling off to block and it’s just moving him up the queue of that line.

Denny Hamlin asserted.

Denny Hamlin reveals the secret plan Ryan Blaney’s last lap moves

In the same conversation Denny Hamlin explained that Blaney used the same technique he has been relaying on for years, which made him one of the best plate race drivers, to win at Daytona. It’s all about ebbing patient and choosing the battles. Push the driver ahead of you, force them to make choices and punce on the moment they make the move you want them to.

denny hamlin
Ryan Blaney(L) and Denny Hamlin(R)

So that’s where I found I got much better at superspeedway racing 10, 15 years ago. It’s that not necessarily having to be the one to make the move, but pushing someone else to make them make a choice, and then you have time to process whether that choice was right or not.

Denny Hamlin said.

The comments from the Toyota veteran shows the 15 times Cup race winner Blaney has crack the code on how run efficiently at Superspeedways and more consistent runs would be coming the way of the No:12 team. It was the R-8 Talladega race run that gave Blaney the championship winning momentum in 2023 and the Daytona win might give him another opportunity to produce a cluch title run.

Also Read: Ryan Blaney Exposes Why His Dad “Absolutely Despises” Plate Races