AVONDALE, Ariz. – Wood Bros. Racing is off to their best start in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series since 1992 and driver Ryan Blaney kept the momentum train rolling with a second-place qualifying effort Friday afternoon for Sunday’s Camping World 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Despite an 18th place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway sandwiched between a runner-up performance in the Daytona 500 and a seventh-place result last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Blaney sits sixth in points and appears closer to scoring his first Cup Series win.
A fifth-place effort in practice on Friday, bettered with his career-best start have the High Point, N.C. native a serious contender to win on Sunday – a victory that would give manufacturer Ford, their third win in four races to open the 2017 season.
“I feel like last year we were close on weekends but I feel like this year we are starting off a lot closer than what we did last year for sure,” said Blaney who will make his 58th career Cup start Sunday.
“Our cars have been competitive enough to win all three races it just was circumstances. It is just about putting a full race together. It is really tough to win one of these Cup races. Everything has to fall your way on the race track and pit road and everything like that.
“All we can do is try to make the car as fast as we can and do the best to minimize mistakes and take advantage of opportunities. That is all you can do.”
With a team and driver having a great attitude and reinforcement on the track with race results, it’s important for Blaney and his team to keep their mojo going – but Blaney said it’s equally important for his team not to get comfortable with where they’re at, especially since his competitors are tirelessly working to get better every week.
“Just keep doing what we have been doing,” said Blaney. “We want to get better every single week, be aggressive, work really hard and it is really early in the year and you never know how mid season goes but you always have to keep improving.
“I feel like the fire in everyone’s belly is burning bright. They want to be competitive and show and prove to everyone that the Wood Brothers deserve to be up there, because they do. They work hard enough to be up there. It is nice to start off strong but it is all about always improving, getting better and staying up there, staying on top of your game.
“You can never really get relaxed because other teams and drivers are always getting better. The Wood Brothers are really happy, they are all really happy over there and that is a good vibe over there.”
And it’s not just the fans or media who are taking notice to Blaney’s presence. His Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and pole sitter Joey Logano were quick to boast on his recent efforts.
“Ryan is really turning into a very, very good driver,” offered Logano. “Everyone has to go through kind of the stages. Some are quicker than others. It took me four years to get to where we are today and I am still not where I want to be but I am getting closer.
“I think when I look at Ryan Blaney, he has come up very quick in my opinion. He has been able to figure out what it takes and you think about the situation he is put in, does he have fast race cars, yes, but he is new to racing these things.
“He qualified third last week so he has speed. He raced really well last week too. It is good. It is really good.”
Whether you strike him as good or really good, Blaney is close to completing that full circle.
And with their recent emphasis on performance, the newfound surge has allowed the chatter in the garage to whisper ‘it’s not a matter of if, but when.’
Well, all things considered, that time could come at the end of 312 laps Sunday afternoon in the ‘Valley of the Sun.’
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
