LEBANON, Tenn: Ryan Blaney’s day at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway sucked.
Blaney qualified his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang 10th but was forced to pit before the start of Sunday’s inaugural Ally 400 after his left-rear quarter panel was damaged as he transitioned from the exit of pit road onto the 1.33-mile speedway.
One lap before the green, Blaney brought his No. 12 Menards | Duracell Ford Mustang to the attention of his team where they repaired his vehicle.
Because he pitted before the green flag, Blaney forfeited his starting position and took the green flag from 39th and continued a gradual climb towards the front.
Despite a slick race track, Blaney made progress but a few laps after competing a green flag pit stop, Blaney appeared to have a brake problem which sent his Ford Mustang hard into the Turn 2 wall at Lap 55 and abruptly ended his day.
“It was not a very good start to our day and not a good end, either,” offered Blaney. “We had an issue before the race and had to come and fix it. Then we had some brake trouble, and we came in and pulled tape, and then on the restart I’m not sure if I broke a rotor — I think that’s what happened because something exploded into one and then no brakes and took a pretty big lick.”
Blaney was frustrating that his Cup debut at Nashville ended early – but he hopes to rebound at the 2.5-mile triangle of Pocono Raceway, the site of his first Cup Series victory with the Wood Brothers Racing team in 2017.
“It’s a shame,” added Blaney. “Just not a very good day for us and hate that it ended early. I hate it for Menards and everybody in our group and Ford, but we’ll come back strong at Pocono next week.”
Nashville marked just the second DNF (did not finish) of the season. Blaney, the Atlanta Motor Speedway winner in March crashed out of February’s Daytona 500.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
