BLANEY BATTLES BACK AT DARLINGTON

Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang Dark Horse team faced an up-and-down night in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opener at Darlington Sunday night that ended in an 18th-place result. After starting 12th, Blaney settled into 10th on the leaderboard for the opening run of the night and, following a pair of green flag pit cycles, he went on to complete the pass for 10th with four laps remaining in the segment to cap off Stage 1. Following a caution on lap 152 while running ninth, Blaney found himself on the wrong end of contact between the Nos. 20 and 77 on pit road as the No. 77 slid in front of the 12 team's stall, forcing Blaney to delay his exit and miring him back to 20th in the running order for the ensuing restart. He worked his way back up to 13th by the time the caution flag flew on lap 203 but the following restart altered the 12 team's night as the No. 8 got loose in front of Blaney and the No. 3 made contact with his rear bumper, sending the Menards/Dutch Boy Ford spinning towards the inside wall on the frontstretch. After a pair of trips to pit road to remedy a flat right front tire and damage to the splitter, Blaney rejoined the field without losing a lap but came away with a 31st-place finish in Stage 2. The 12 team continued to make adjustments on each subsequent stop to offset the damage, allowing Blaney to climb back into the top-20 prior to lap 300, but an untimely caution while Blaney was on pit road trapped them a lap down. After taking the wave around to rejoin the lead lap prior to the final restart of the night with 48 laps to go, Blaney picked up seven positions over the course of the final run to salvage an 18th-place finish. Blaney enters the second race of the Round of 16 in seventh in the playoff standings, 22 points above the elimination line.