‘UP AND DOWN DAY’ FOR BLANEY IN TEXAS

Ryan Blaney secured valuable points in the opening two stages of Sunday afternoon’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway to begin the Round of 12, but the No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang was collected in a late-race, multi-car incident, resulting in a 28th-place finish. After running 24th in the latter stages of Stage 1 while battling a tight-handling race car, the caution flag flew on lap 73 and Blaney was one of eight cars to not hit pit road, vaulting him to eighth in the running order before a one-lap shootout to end the stage. Blaney crossed the line seventh in the opening stage and again stayed out during the stage break as he lined up to restart on the inside of row three for the second, 85-lap segment. The Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang settled into seventh in the running order during the opening run of the stage as Blaney began to report a tight-handling condition on old tires within the first 15 laps of the run. The caution flag flew on lap 110 and crew chief Jonathan Hassler dialed in another strategy call, bringing Blaney in for right side tires and fuel to come off pit road second for the following restart. Despite battling the No. 23 for the lead after taking the green, Blaney eventually settled into fifth in the running order as the handling began to dissipate with the laps winding down in Stage 2. Blaney continued to forge ahead, crossing the stripe fourth in the stage with another round of pit stops looming. Following a four-tire stop and a round of adjustments during the stage break, Blaney settled back into fourth on the leaderboard as the racing surface began to widen out – especially in turns three and four. The caution flag flew again on lap 208 as the leaders hit pit road and Blaney was scored fifth at the timing line following another four-tire stop but was flagged for speeding in section two of pit road, relegating him to the tail end of the longest line on the following restart. After taking the green flag with 58 laps remaining, Blaney began his charge through the field and was scored 20th when the yellow flag was displayed yet again on lap 248, setting up another restart with 13 laps to go. As the field worked its way off turn four, the Nos. 45 and 43 made contact with the outside wall ahead of Blaney, causing the outside line to check up and sending the No. 12 for a spin across the frontstretch. Blaney sustained significant damage to the right rear and despite the team’s efforts to get him back on track, he was unable to make minimum speed, resulting in a 28th-place finish.
 
Blaney enters the second race of the Round of 12 in 11th in the points standings, 11 points below the cut line.