Ryan Blaney has to feel confident about his chances at Phoenix. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Following a feast or famine start this season, Ryan Blaney looks ahead to Sunday’s Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway, brimming with confidence.
While the 28-year-old High Point, North Carolina native has an average finish of 14.3 in his 12 prior starts, he’s been one of the steadier performers in the past six races. With an average finish of 10.5 at Phoenix since 2019, the ninth year NASCAR Cup Series racer hopes for a bit of a season turnaround at the 1-mile speedway.
Placing 10th and fourth in last year’s races, Blaney replicated his feats from 2017 and 2019 with a Busch Pole Award winning effort on Saturday, posting a time of 27.127 seconds or 132.709 mph.
Following his seventh career Cup pole, Blaney reflected on his qualifying run with a candid but confident tone.
Blaney seems to be finding his groove at Phoenix. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“I thought it was a pretty decent lap,” Blaney observed. “You just hope you make the right changes to try to get a little bit better and everyone else is trying to do the same thing. I got a little bit tight in 3 and 4 and that worried me a little bit but overall the car had great speed in it and has had really good speed all day. I appreciate everyone’s help. It is a nice place to start.”
Although it has been seven years since the last pole winner’s victory in the Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix, Blaney’s most recent efforts at the Avondale, Arizona venue offer glimpses of hopes into snapping this dry spell.
Namely, Blaney drives for one of the top teams in motorsports. Also, it cannot hurt that Blaney, like his on track rivals, are taking on a venue that’ll host the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race for the third consecutive year.
Nevertheless, Blaney does not want to think far in advance, focused more on the present with mastering the Next Gen car.
“I honestly don’t think of it too much,” he said. “It is really early. My bigger concern is just trying to figure out this new car. It is really the first short track we have been to.
“The Coliseum was kind of its own thing. This is a place you will be using the brakes pretty hard and things like that. It didn’t even cross my mind until you just said something about it. I try not to think too far ahead. It is good to take notes. You do that with every single track. I just try to focus on the current weekend.”
One of the most unique facets with racing at Phoenix is the multiple lines on the frontstretch heading into turns 1 and 2. In the past, drivers veered left past the stripe and into the dogleg’s apron, which sometimes punished their equipment.
Now, with the Next Gen car’s unknowns and the rear diffuser, drivers like Blaney may play a wait and see game while others dive into the flat dogleg sections of the track.
Since a fourth at Daytona, Blaney’s had a bit of a bumpy two race streak at Fontana and Las Vegas. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“That is something we used to abuse in the old cars because you just hit truck arm mounts and splitters and side skirts,” he reflected. “You honestly wanted to go down there with the side skirts to flare the right side out. Now, I am not going to be the first one. We talked about that all week, me and the team. You have to think about the diffuser and low air pressure with these tires going down there kind of worries me.
“I went down and kind of ran that dogleg when we were here testing. It was my last lap of the day and of the weekend but tires were way pumped up and it didn’t feel bad but on low air pressure, I would be nervous to do it. I will not be the first one. I will have some people watching to see if guys go down there and if it is successful or if you are just destroying your race car. I don’t know. I definitely won’t be the first one, that is what I know.”
Another factor that Blaney and his No. 12 Menards/Maytag Ford Mustang team will consider is the resin applied last year along the corners. For a track that has very wild restarts and multiple grooves, while Blaney has experience from last year’s finale, he’ll be curious how it impacts the race with the new car and new tire compounds.
Ahead of Sunday’s race, Blaney described his approach with the on-track conditions, perhaps one of the keys to his pole winning run.
“It felt like it had a lot of grip,” he offered. “I am trying to think if – I can’t believe that the resin had more grip than it had before because they haven’t touched it since last year. I just think the cars have a ton of grip. You feel like you are hauling the mail in the corner with this car. Whether it is the wider tire or more drag, it feels like you can get off in the corner really fast, and the resin kind of holds you.
“I think a lot of that is the tire having more grip probably but it does feel like it is sticky. In qualifying, we sailed it off into turn 1 and went right to the resin and didn’t think it would grip up and stick but it got in there and you just go about your way. It is a pretty weird feeling as a driver, driving into the corner knowing you are not going to make it unless the resin is there. That is something everyone is getting used to with the new car, you are kind of testing the limits.”
All things considered, while Blaney ranks 13th ahead of Sunday’s race, he understands the situations where he may need to compromise his car, especially when the race gets down to the finish.
Mild mannered and calculative during race weekends, the seven-time Cup race winner isn’t afraid to push the limits when the going gets tough.
For a younger racer, Blaney’s situational awareness likens to a seasoned veteran. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“It is all situational, but the worry is breaking one of those fins off,” Blaney remarked. “I don’t know the exact number of rear downforce it gives you but you want to keep all of them that you can. I think that is one of the concerns.
“You may be in a situation where you are going to go dive down there to try to win the race. I am not going to do it on lap one, but maybe if you think you are in a spot to go down there and take that risk of hurting your car. It is all kind of in the moment.”
