HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Ryan Blaney made his mark on the NASCAR Cup Series season finale race in the spirit of a late great.

Blaney won Sunday's Season Finale 400 at Homestead-Miami, bringing the season to a close in victory lane nearly a year after winning at Phoenix Raceway last November. He became the first driver since Greg Biffle to win the season-ending race in back-to-back years. Biffle won the season finale in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Like Biffle, Blaney drove a Ford to victory lane at the 1.5-mile track. Blaney led three times for seven laps, including the final two laps. 

Blaney had speed throughout the race but turned it on the final stage. He dogged Denny Hamlin, who led the most laps (87), and came up sixth. 

Then, in the final eight laps, Blaney chopped through the pack to take the win away from Tyler Reddick with two laps to go.

Blaney earned his fourth win of the 2026 season, tying a career-high mark and getting his 21st career win. He finished fourth in the championship standings, 94 points behind champion Kyle Larson, to claim his third top-five points finish -- all in the last five seasons -- and his best points finish since ranking second in 2024.

Blaney won four races for the second season in a row, after two consecutive seasons where he won three races.

With the new format demanding consistency and a high-level of performance every week more than ever, Blaney earned career-high marks for not only wins (four) but also laps led (1,107), top-10 finishes (23) and poles (five). He also earned his best average finish in a NextGen Cup season (12.7), behind only 2021 (11.9) overall in his career.

Blaney missed out on the championship with four finishes of 33rd or worse in the final 10 races, all in races where he had a shot at a top-10 finish. All of those finishes -- 35th at Gateway, 33rd at Bristol, 38th at Talladega and 35th at Martinsville -- not being top-10 finishes cost him 101 points.

Finishing the season 94 points back of the championship, the 2026 Chase will be a postseason of "What if?" for Ryan Blaney.

Blaney earned Team Penske's 360th NASCAR Cup Series win. 2026 marked the third consecutive season where one of its drivers earned at least four wins during the season. At least one Penske has also achieved that mark in four of the five NextGen seasons.