LONG-RUN PACE DELIVERS FIFTH FOR BLANEY AT LAS VEGAS

Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Duracell Ford Dark Horse Mustang crew continued their steady improvement on NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) intermedia circuits with a fifth-place finish in Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is Blaney's sixth fifth-place finish as the 1.5-mile desert oval and his seventh top-five overall. The 2023 NCS Champion started the race from the 20th position and early on Blaney radioed that he needed more overall grip on a day when temperatures hovered near 100 degrees. Yet he made steady improvement as he drove to the front from the drop of the green flag. Blaney would take the lead during the first pit cycle before coming down pit lane on Lap 41 for four tires, fuel and slight adjustments. The No. 12 Ford responded well to the air pressure adjustments called by crew chief Jonathan Hassler as handling moved slightly to each side of balanced throughout the race, but his driver was able to score points in both stages. Blaney had considerable speed over the long run, but he gave up too much time over the first several laps of a stint to make up the difference. After resuming the lead during pit cycles again, Blaney came to pit lane for the final time on Lap 221 and after cycling back to seventh in the order, he was able to make it back to grab the top-five finish.