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March 20, 2023RUNNER UP IN PHOENIX – BLANEY FINISHES ON A POSITIVE NOTE
RACE RUNDOWN
Ryan Blaney | No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang
Start: 8th
Stage 1: 6th
Stage 2: 8th
Finish: 2nd
Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 team had a solid Dent Wizard Ford Mustang throughout Sunday's United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway to come away with a second-place finish. After starting eighth, Blaney wheeled his way to a sixth-place finish in Stage 1 and ran in the top-10 for most of Stage 2 during a pair of lengthy green flag runs. The No. 12 team hit on its adjustments to alleviate Blaney's issues with center turn, resulting in an eighth-place finish in Stage 2. Following a scheduled green-flag stop on lap 243, Blaney cycled to eighth place and began to make a charge towards the top-five in the latter stages of the race. Crew Chief Jonathan Hassler brought Blaney to pit road following a caution on lap 302 for right side tires and fuel and came off pit road third as the field lined up to restart with under 10 laps to go. After choosing the bottom lane to restart on the inside of row two, Blaney battled with the leaders to take over the top spot, but ultimately had to settle for a second-place finish on the day.
Blaney's Thoughts
"The last restart I thought I got to the bottom of those guys into Turn 2 and that I was in a good spot for Turn 3. I think the No. 45 kind of helped the No. 24 – got him a push down the back and got him a good spot. He had an advantage going in there. Close, but I wasn't really close enough to the No. 24 going into Turn 3 to do anything. Overall, pretty good day. We got a lot better all day. We finished a little better than I thought we'd run. So, that was positive."
