NASCAR star Ryan Blaney talks championship chances after Atlanta victory

NASCAR star Ryan Blaney believes he could still catch Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin in the Cup Series standings this season.

Heading into Sunday's race at Atlanta, Blaney sat third behind Reddick in second and Hamlin on top, trailing the pair by 69 and 113 points, respectively.

However, after his overtime victory on Sunday night, which also included maximum stage points for the evening with wins in stages one and two, Blaney has massively closed the gap, with the 75 points he gained having put him within 41 of Reddick in second, and 65 of Hamlin in first.

"Really? Wow. Wow," was Blaney's response when he was told that in his post-race press conference.

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Ryan Blaney on NASCAR championship chances

Blaney is now back in the fight for the regular season championship, with just six races of the season remaining before the cut-off for The Chase.

"Yeah, maybe," Blaney told the media when asked if he thought he could still make a run for the championship. "Just keep doing what we’re doing.

"We’ve done a great job of managing the summer here, trying to get better at the intermediate tracks, just making decent days out of them, where maybe we haven’t been able to contend for a top four or five. We grind it out and scrounge out a top 10 out of it, just get our car better through the night.

"I talked earlier what this group really does well, and that’s it. When we don’t have a car that maybe can contend for a win, maybe off a little bit, we continue to work on it and figure out how to get it better.

"I don’t think it’s out of the question. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. That surprises me we’re that close. I think before San Diego I was like 160 out.

"It shows you how quick things can kind of ebb and flow. Got to keep doing what we’re doing. Never know when we can get there or not."