Ryan Blaney Injured: Will Miss NASCAR Awards, Veterans Day Race

MIAMI — NASCAR Cup Series season finale winner Ryan Blaney will miss the awards banquet and a postseason Veterans Day exhibition race due to a fall that "required medical attention."

Blaney posted about the fall Tuesday on his Instagram page. He said he was out at dinner Monday night with family and friends when he had an accident where he took a fall that required medical attention.

The 2023 Cup Series champion is okay and is resting and recovering. However, he won't make the awards banquet – set for Tuesday in south Florida – and Wednesday's event at Daytona. 

Robert Noaker, a two-time IMSA Mustang Challenge North America champion, will replace Blaney in the Veterans Day Classic at Daytona.

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.

Blaney led three times for seven laps, including the final two laps. He 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 has never experienced an injury that has required him to miss a race before. At Nashville Superspeedway, he reportedly experienced "concussion-like symptoms" after his crash there in 2023. However, he consulted with a concussion specialist and returned to race the following week.

Blaney has had multiple hard hits in his career, including at Daytona in 2023 when he hit head-on in turn three. In February 2024, at Daytona, he had a similar hit. The hits registered at 70G and 55G but he never needed to miss a race because of it.