Ryan Blaney managed a strong fourth, the second best finish for a Round of 12 Playoffs racer. (Photo: John Arndt | r/NASCAR)
By all means, Ryan Blaney had a strong result following Sunday evening’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
While he rolled off from the 14th position and finished 20th in Stage 1, Blaney tallied a Stage 2 win, a wild segment that eliminated some of his Playoff rivals like Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell.
Once Stage 3 was underway, trouble found the likes of Kevin Harvick, Christopher Buescher and Martin Truex, Jr.
In the case of Blaney and his No. 12 Menards/Tarkett Ford Mustang fielded by Team Penske, he avoided the issues that besieged race and Playoff contenders.
Despite finishing fourth and netting 43 points, the second best result and points tally for a Round of 12 contender, the 28-year-old Hartford Township, Ohio native expressed concerns about the various tire failures at Texas.
In Blaney’s case, it’s about driving to survive as seen at Texas. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
“It seems at this point, it’s just flip the coin,” Blaney said. “I don’t know what causes these tire issues. I don’t think anybody does.
“It’s unfortunate that it keeps happening and you can just be riding along, blowing out and end your day. It’s not safe at all, actually. I’d love to tell you what happens, but I just don’t know.”
As Blaney searches for answers, he knows the craziness does not stop solely at Texas, despite a record breaking 16 caution periods.
With Talladega Superspeedway awaiting Blaney and his peers next Sunday (2 p.m. ET on NBC), the Round of 12 will be anything but ordinary, even with the Charlotte ROVAL closing things out.
“Both of them will be crazy,” he remarked. “This whole season, this year has been wild. It’s been a crazy, crazy year. We’ve seen really hard racing. Talladega will be the same thing. It’ll be normal Talladega of it being pretty crazy. And stage points are big.”
In terms of his approach at Talladega, a track he’s tallied two victories (fall 2019 and summer 2020), it sounds simple. However, taking on the 2.66-mile superspeedway and surviving the first two stages may be more difficult than Sam climbing down from Clarissa’s window.
Blaney hopes to score his third win at Talladega after a tenacious fourth at Texas. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
“Try to stay out of a wreck and try to be there in the end,” he observed. “It’s something that you can hope to make it to the end of that race. That’s one of the biggest things that we all talk about.”
Ranked fifth in the Playoffs standings and 15 points to the good, Blaney wants to avoid the dramatics seen at Daytona when he earned the penultimate postseason spot with a ravaged No. 12 Ford Mustang.
“I’d like to finish it, that’s for sure,” he quipped. “And not in the style that we did at Daytona. I’d like the thing to be in one piece and not smash it.”
