CONCORD, North Carolina – For the third time in 2015, Ryan Blaney and the Wood Bros. Racing team were unable to finish a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race because of engine failure in their No. 21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford Fusion Ford Fusion.
The misfortune hit the legendary team hard Sunday at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, as Blaney showed speed and maintained a presence inside the top-20 during the Coca-Cola 600, but on Lap 273, the engine seized abruptly on the backstretch.
“We unfortunately had an engine problem,” said Blaney. “It was really unfortunate. I thought our Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford Fusion was pretty good. Jeremy Bullins and everyone on the team did a great job of working on it all night and getting us better, and it really took off on that one restart and I thought we were gonna be pretty good.
“We had great take-off speed all night, but we just struggled for grip late in runs. I thought we made a good change to help that for this run and unfortunately, the motor let go on us. That’s just unfortunate. You come out here and I don’t know how many laps we ran, but it felt close to 300 and to almost be there and have that issue is just unfortunate. “
Blaney was able coast his automobile to pit road where he went directly to the garage. He was credited with a 42nd place finish in NASCAR’s longest race.
“There was really no issue,” sounded Blaney. “It sputtered and started to go maybe half a lap before and then it really went up. I didn’t expect it to really explode like that.”
After a superb fourth place finish earlier this month at Talladega (Ala.) Superspedway, Blaney and his team had high hopes for a similar performance in their fifth race of the season.
Unfortunately, 127 laps from the finish, Blaney suffered his third DNF (did not finish) of the season.
The 21-year old suffered a similar fate in the season-opening Daytona 500 in February and Texas Motor Speedway in April. Undoubtedly, the team will work close with Roush Yates Engines to diagnose and determine the cause of Sunday night’s failure, but one fact is certain, the team can afford no more failures.
“I hate it for these guys,” added Blaney. “They work so hard and they gave me a good piece and we were getting it better all night. I would have really liked to see where we ended up, but I’m excited for our next outing in this thing and we can always look at the positives and say we had a good run going. Everyone is working really well together on this team, so we just need to get running a little bit more and I think we’ll be OK.”
Despite his exit from Sunday’s race, Blaney says the experience he gained was priceless.
“A ton,” offered Blaney on how much he learned. “Racing around some really good guys all night, top 15 all night, you really learn a lot of things and I definitely can apply that.”
The weekend wasn’t a complete wash for the Team Penske driver. On Saturday, Blaney finished 10th in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang continuing his streak of 13 consecutive top-10 finishes in XFINITY Series competition.
The No. 21 team will return to competition at Michigan International Speedway on June 14.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
