Jeff Gordon reacts to Ryan Blaney nearly pulling off 'impossible' at Martinsville, looks ahead to Phoenix

Ryan Blaney knew he had his work cut out for him heading into Sunday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway. Blaney qualified 31st and being in a position where he needed to win to clinch a spot in the Championship 4, that was less than ideal at a track like Martinsville.

Jeff Gordon, a nine-time winner at Martinsville, didn’t think Blaney had a shot to race for the win. And yet, there Blaney was, leading 177 laps.

“Honestly, I thought it was impossible to win this race from 31st. And he drove right through the field,” Gordon said after the race, via Kelly Crandall of RACER/ESPN.

Blaney, indeed, drove right through the field rather quickly. It quickly became clear he had one of the best cars in the field. Unfortunately for him, so did William Byron. And like Blaney, Byron needed a win to advance to the Championship 4.

Byron had what Gordon called, “the race of his career.” He led 304 laps, beating Blaney to the start/finish line by 0.717 seconds to win his third race of the season. Blaney had control of the race in Stage 3 but with less than 50 laps to go, Byron went for it. Byron made contact with Blaney going into Turn 1, muscling his way on by for the race lead. Byron never relinquished it, even after one final late restart as a result of a Carson Hocevar spin.

Ryan Blaney couldn’t beat William Byron at Martinsville

“To me, William, I believe, had the race of his career today,” Gordon said, via John Newby of Savage Ventures. “I know it wasn’t a Daytona 500, but to me, the way he handled himself and the way he approached it and raced today was just unbelievable. And that last restart I would put right in there with that. I mean, he nailed that restart! Not only did he get the jump when in the restart area but then he drove that thing deep down into [Turn] 1, went up wide, turned it, and drove off and cleared the 12.

“And we saw how strong the 12 was on the outside of some of those restarts, so I was anticipating the 12 giving them a heck of a battle, but I was also expecting him to give him the bumper, and William didn’t give him the chance to do that.”

One more win at Phoenix and Byron will become a champion. Rounding out the Championship 4 are Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Kyle Larson. What is Gordon expecting to see in this battle of Joe Gibbs Racing versus Hendrick Motorsports?

“It’s going to be an epic battle,” Gordon said, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “This is anybody’s race.”