Ryan Blaney impressed with his incredible drive during the final laps of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. He was able to get back to Victory Lane for the second time in 2025, taking the checkered flag at Daytona to close out the regular season. It caught the eyes of many, including Freddie Kraft of Door […]
Ryan Blaney impressed with his incredible drive during the final laps of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. He was able to get back to Victory Lane for the second time in 2025, taking the checkered flag at Daytona to close out the regular season.
It caught the eyes of many, including Freddie Kraft of Door Bumper Clear, and The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck. The duo debated Blaney’s memorable moment on the latest episode of Kraft’s podcast, with Gluck giving the No. 12 Ford wheelman much more credit than his counterpart.
“The funny thing I thought was, you know, everybody was like, ‘Ryan was 13th with two to go and wins the race,’ and they’re all, ‘Oh, what a run!’ And I’m like—he didn’t really do anything. Like, the seas just kind of parted for him,” Kraft stated.
“He pushed the hell out of the 41, got him up to the front row, then the 41 and the 7 start blocking each other, and Ryan’s just there. The seas part, and next thing you know, Ryan’s leading the race. Then he’s just gotta block a little bit down the frontstretch for the win.”
Gluck doesn’t believe Kraft was necessarily wrong, but the analyst is thinking Blaney deserves more credit than that. It may say more about NASCAR’s current product than anything, but the former champion’s performance was impressive nonetheless.
“Here’s the thing, though — maybe it’s a low bar, but I just think fans are like, ‘Man, we saw people actually able to make moves at the end.’ I mean, Ryan goes from 13th to first, Suarez goes from 19th to second, and Jones goes from 25th to fifth, I think,” Gluck added.
“And that’s what everybody wants, right? Because everyone still thinks of Dale Sr. at Talladega, in the last few laps of his final win, carving through the field. We think about the older generation of plate racing, and how you’d see guys drop to the back, and then the great plate racers could figure out how to take runs and go.
“And even if it was the perfect storm, I think people are just like, ‘Thank goodness.’ Like, we finally got to see some movement.”
Regardless of what Freddie Kraft or Jeff Gluck might say, Ryan Blaney has the trophy — and that’s what truly matters at the end of the day. Now, his focus shifts to chasing another title, with his sights set on winning the whole thing again and adding another championship to his resume.
Category: General Sports
