SHOT AT THE WIN IN DOVER FOR BLANEY
May 1, 2023
BLANEY TAKES ADVANTAGE OF LATE CAUTIONS TO FINSIH WITH A TOP-10
May 15, 2023SPEEDY RUNS IN KANSAS FOR BLANEY
RACE RUNDOWN
Ryan Blaney | No. 12 Menards / Moen / BODYARMOR Ford Mustang
Start: 10th
Stage 1: 8th
Stage 2: 15th
Finish: 16th
Ryan Blaney had top-10 pace from the onset of Sunday's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway despite a tight-handling condition that began to creep in during the first long, green flag run of the day. Following a scheduled green flag stop on lap 40 for four tires, fuel, and a round of adjustments, Blaney wheeled his way to an eighth-place finish in Stage 1. At the end of the opening stage, the No. 12 team picked up two spots on pit road with another four-tire stop as Blaney inched his way closer to the top-five of the running order. The No. 12 Ford Mustang fired off tight on the ensuing restart, but another round of adjustments during a trip to pit road under caution brought the balance back to where Blaney needed it to work his way back into the top-10. As the field took the green with 12 laps to go in Stage 2, Blaney went three-wide on the frontstretch to clear the No. 1 and No. 9 and vault him to sixth on the leaderboard. A caution right before the stage end saw the No. 12 team bring Blaney to pit road in place of a stop at the stage break, resulting in a 15th-place finish in Stage 2. The strategy call saw Blaney restart sixth to begin the final stage and he climbed as high as fourth in the running order, but the No. 12 Ford Mustang suffered from a loose-handling condition over the course of the final green flag run, resulting in a 16th-place finish.
Blaney's Thoughts
"We worked at it all day and the end result doesn't show the kind of pace we had at times. This is the kind of place where the track changes so much over the course of 400 miles and you're moving around to find what works and what doesn't. That last run kind of boxed us in on where we were able to run in the corners - I think if we had one more chance to make an adjustment at the end it's a different outcome for us. Fortunately, we were able to pick up some stage points early. We're proud of the speed we've shown the last few weeks and we'll get back after it in Darlington."
Blaney is currently 7th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver points standings.
