Ryan Blaney may be sitting in fifth place in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. But one major statistic jumps out.
Blaney has led 1,035 laps so far in 2026. Even if he’s well behind points leader Kyle Larson in the standings, Blaney’s overall dominance in speed shows that he can control races as the Chase for the NASCAR Cup continues.
He showed off that speed at Kansas, where he started 25th, but cruised to a fifth-place finish. Blaney had the No. 12 Ford closing in late, but he ran out of laps to complete the comeback.
Blaney even noted that things could have been different if he had a few more laps.
“I would have loved about seven or eight more laps — I might have actually won. We were taking chunks out of it: five-, six-, seven-tenths over the last handful of laps. Good effort.”
This can make Blaney, who led four laps at Kansas, and his ability to lead during long stretches of races, concerning for the rest of the field: If he winds up in a better starting position and takes control of a race, he could make the rest of the Chase very, very interesting.
Ryan Blaney Has Set Career Milestones So Far In Laps Led
His 1,035 laps led have already obliterated the 852 he led in 2025 and the 562 he led during his 2023 championship season. What’s striking here is that Blaney has led almost twice as many laps as he did in 2023.
That said, this number doesn’t come without a paradox. Gateway (35th place) and Bristol (33rd place) put a dent in his Chase position. Blaney led 202 laps at Bristol before disaster struck, and he was knocked out of the race.
His recent race results, which also include a fourth-place finish at Darlington, can be misleading for how fast he has been all season. Crashing out at Bristol was especially heartbreaking. But if Blaney’s finishing position can match his speed with the same consistency, he will be one to watch over the final six races of the season.
Blaney’s Stage Points Tell The Same Story
So far, Blaney has 259 stage points compared to Larson’s 261. They’re another example of how effective Blaney has been, even if the final result hasn’t always been there.
Pair that with Blaney’s overall laps led, his 19 top-10 finishes, four poles, and three wins. These underlying numbers show a driver who consistently puts himself near the front. His solid showing at Kansas further drove that point home because he was forced to race his way toward the front.
Blaney Can Build On His Performance At Kansas
Blaney wasn’t the only Team Penske car that was hot all afternoon on Sunday. Teammate Austin Cindric took second place. This implies that Team Penske could have something going for it at intermediate tracks.
Las Vegas is coming up. Like Kansas, it’s a 1.5-mile oval. That indicates Blaney can easily build on his momentum and snag another good finish. If he keeps showing the same speed, he will be in contention at Vegas.
Still, Blaney must turn his speed into more consistent results if he wants a chance to win the championship. If he can do that, then the Chase is nowhere near over.
One Ryan Blaney Stat Should Worry the Rest of the NASCAR Field