LATE CONTACT ENDS BLANEY’S BRICKYARD CHANGE, RESULTS IN 26TH-PLACE FINISH

Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Delta Ford Mustang Dark Horse team were involved in a seven-car incident with 41 laps remaining in Sunday's Brickyard 400, resulting in a 26th-place finish. After starting 13th, Blaney settled into 12th in the running order to begin the opening, 50-lap segment before he was called to pit road for a scheduled four tire stop under green with nine laps to go in Stage 1. The caution flag flew three laps later, setting up a one-lap shootout to the end of the stage as Blaney came away with a 14th-place effort. The late pit stop in Stage 1 allowed Blaney to stay out prior to the ensuing restart, allowing him to work up into the top-10 20 laps into the run before crew chief Jonathan Hassler called him to pit road on lap 90 during the green flag pit cycle. Another caution in the closing laps of the stage ultimately saw the field finish the second segment under yellow with Blaney scored 17th. Blaney continued to work his way back towards the top-10 during the final run of the afternoon as he lined up 13th to take the restart with 41 laps to go, but ended up on the wrong end of a three-wide battle into turn three as contact with the No. 42 sent Blaney sliding up into the outside wall that resulted in damage to the right side of the nose and splitter. The No. 12 made a pair of trips to pit road to repair the damage - and kept Blaney on the lead lap in the process - as he rejoined the field for the final restart of the afternoon scored 31st with 34 laps remaining. Despite the damage, Blaney made up five positions over the course of the final run but ultimately came up two spots short of winning the In-Season Challenge with a 26th-place finish.