CONCORD, N.C. – Minding his manners through Stage 1 and most of Stage 2 during Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney saw his chances of sweeping the weekend at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway diminish when he broke a rear axle leaving pit road on Lap 176.
While running fifth, Blaney came in for a routine pit stop during the event’s fourth caution, but as he left pit road, the axle broke causing him to stumble. The Wood Bros. Racing driver slowly maneuvered his car around the track and back to pit road where he went to the garage for four laps for repairs.
Blaney would lose an additional lap on the race track and was 34th at the conclusion of stage 2.
Sunday’s misfortune continued a year of peaks and valleys for the No. 21 team in 2017. The team entered the Charlotte stretch on the heels of their first pole of the season and a solid fourth-place result at Kansas Speedway.
Before then, the team suffered three straight finishes of 33rd or worse. After vaulting to 11th in series points following their second top-five of the year, the High Point, N.C. native will trek to Dover International Speedway next weekend 12th in points after gaining 10 spots over the final two stages to finish 24th.
“Breaking an axle is a tough break for the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team,” Blaney said. “These Wood Brothers guys did a great job getting us back on the track.”
On Saturday, Blaney scored his fifth career XFINITY Series win in the Hisense 4K TV 300 at Charlotte and joined father Dave Blaney as XFINITY winners at the 1.5-mile track. Together, the father-son duo are the only winners to host a winning trophy since the track’s inception.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
