Fantasy NASCAR Racing

and Martin Truex at Daytona, and when it was all said and done, Blaney beat out Truex by a scant three points to make the Chase.  In the play-offs he advanced to the second round; even though he had a 30th place finish at Bristol.  On the Roval at Charlotte, he finished 26th, but again was able to advance into the round of eight.  But in that round, he finished 28th at Las Vegas; and followed that with a 17th at Homestead.  He was now in a position to where he would have to win at Martinsville to advance to the final four.  He ran a great race; but finished third and missed making the final round.  He ended up the season in eighth place in points.  They were paired together again in 2023.  Hassler and Blaney had about as good a year as anyone could ask for in 2023.  Things started off on a positive note when they finished eighth in the Daytona 500.  Three weeks later they almost won at Phoenix when they finished second.  Blaney has turned a pretty darn super speedway racer, and finished seventh at Atlanta.  At Talladega he almost got the win, finishing second to Kyle Busch.  They finally broke through and got a win in the Coke 600 at Charlotte.  The win locked them into the Chase.  Good runs in the Round of 16 saw them advance to the Round of 12.  A crash at Texas put them behind the eight ball and behind in points.  But when NASCAR traveled to Talladega; Blaney showed his prowess and got the win.  He won again at Martinsville which advanced him into the Championship final at Phoenix.  Kyle Larson, William Byron and Christopher Bell were the other title contenders.  Byron seemed to have the best car early as he led the first 92 laps.  Blaney's car was off the pace early; but Hassler and the crew worked on it every chance they got.  As the race wore on, the car got faster and faster.  Blaney finally found his way to the lead with about 55 laps to go.  But Ross Chastain had been working on his car too, and he had the best car on the track.  Blaney heated up Chastain’s rear bumper the last 50 laps, but couldn’t find his way by.  When the checkers fell Chastain grabbed the win with Blaney close behind in second.  Larson and Byron rounded out the top four.  This was the first year one of his drivers had won a race.  Hassler and Ryan Blaney were back together again in 2024, trying to defend their championship.  Blaney got caught up in 'the big one' when the season opened at Daytona.  But he rebounded at Atlanta and was involved in an exciting three-wide finish.  Blaney led 31 laps, including the white flag lap, but a snarling pack was on his heals, including Daniel Suarez and Kyle Busch.  Suarez swung high going into the final turn, as Blaney hugged the low lane trying to get to the line first.  Kyle Busch stuck his nose in between them, and when they got to the finish line Suarez was first over Blaney by .003 second.  Blaney was third the next race, and finished fifth at Phoenix.  Blaney again finished fifth four weeks later at Martinsville. The duo finally broke through and got the first win at Iowa.  They seemed to have a good set up for the short tracks.  Blaney won again at Pocono during the regular season.  When the Chase started Blaney crashed at Watkins Glen, but a third and sixth place finish helped him make it to the Round of 12.  Again he barely squeeked by, as he was again caught up in the big one at Talladega, finishing 39th.  But good runs at Kansas and the Roval propelled him to the Round of 8.  In the Round of 8, the first two races were run by drivers in the play-offs taking two of the four spots. Several drivers went to Martinsville in a must-win situation to make the championship race.  Chase was one of those, as was Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and others.  Elliott ran well and was up front much of the race.  His car was strong early, but fell off on the long run. Blaney was the opposite, he needed a long run to have a shot to win.  As luck to have it, the final green flag run was 86 laps.  Elliott run down and passed Kyle Larson with 23 laps to go, but Blaney was coming quick.  Blaney passed Elliott with just 14 laps to go to get the win and advance.  At Phoenix Blaney and Logano had the best cars; but Logano had the upper hand and won the race and the Championship.  Blaney was second.  For the year Blaney scored three wins, had 12 top five and 18 top ten finishes.  Hassler had led his drivers to 126 Cup starts, claiming six wins.Add to that, he won the Cup championship in 2023 and the Coke 600 in 2023.  His drivers have made 126 starts; has 33 top five and 59 top ten finishes.  Hassler will be teamed again with Blaney in 2025.