Ryan Blaney’s got to be all smiles after winning the NASCAR All-Star Race last Sunday night at Texas. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
No matter the circumstances with last Sunday night’s NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas, Ryan Blaney enters Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 with a bit of momentum.
Winning the annual exhibition race in unique fashion, Blaney, who rolls off 11th from the grid at Charlotte Motor Speedway, looks forward to carrying over his winning ways from Texas to the stock car capital hub of America.
“Anytime you can get some momentum, it is good,” Blaney said. “I think the biggest thing that helps us with momentum is that our whole group, all of Penske, we kind of tried a little something new with our cars at Texas. We have been lacking a little bit of speed. That is something we have been really working hard on trying to find and we came to Texas with a little different idea of how to do things.”
Admittedly, Blaney hasn’t logged strong finishes at the intermediate track races this year. After crashing out of the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas with a 36th, Blaney’s tallied a 17th at Atlanta and 12th at Kansas.
Perhaps that’s what makes last Sunday’s victory so critical for the High Point, North Carolina native. Blaney, who ranks second in the driver’s championship standings, observed how his team approached the NASCAR All-Star Race with a different approach with desirable results.
There’s nothing like having a chance at a crown jewel race. (Photo: John Arndt | The Podium Finish)
“It seemed to work,” he observed. “I think all our cars were pretty fast. You hope it carries over to other races and tracks and for the 600 this weekend. That was the biggest thing for me, looking back on that race, I thought our cars were really fast and you hope that carries forward.”
Like any competitive athlete, resting on one’s laurels is not in Blaney’s modus operandi. Instead, he looks for ways for the No. 12 BodyArmor/Team Menards Ford Mustang team to elevate their performances by sustaining or improving upon their showings toward the finish.
“I would say the last month or so, we have been OK,” he said. “In some of the circumstances, I feel like we didn’t finish as good as I thought we could have. Like we went to Kansas and I thought we could have ran fifth probably at best but we got put in a bad spot on the last restart and ended up outside the top-10 and then I hit the wall.
“Dover was kind of the same thing. We were running pretty good up towards the front and we had some pit road issues and had to go to the back. That is something that some of it is circumstantial but you want your cars to be a little faster because it makes everything a lot easier when your car is faster.”
Notably, Blaney’s working with third crew chief since moving to the No. 12 Team Penske operation in 2018. Paired up with Jonathan Hassler, Blaney’s always improving upon his communication and chemistry with the innovative head wrench.
Racing into the night. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
If Blaney wins Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600, it’d make for a great family moment considering his father, Dave, winning at Charlotte in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race in 2006. Beyond sentimentalism, there’s nothing like winning one of the crown jewel races of the Cup Series season.
Aside from driver’s strength and stamina, he’s got his mind focused on ensuring his Goodyear tires make it to the finish. For that, he and his team will be vigilant with watching the condition of his tires while doing his part with tire management in the early going of the 600.
“It is hard to tell before we get there and see what tire wear looks like in the practices and stuff like that,” he pointed out. “I hope we don’t have any tire issues. We will see. It is hard to tell until we kind of get a gauge on how they are wearing when we get on track Saturday but I hope there are no issues.”
