LEBANON, Tenn. : Still seeking his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2022 season, Ryan Blaney knew his only shot at Victory Lane was deciding to stay out when the final caution waved inside the final 10 laps of Sunday’s weather-delayed Ally 400 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.
While a wad of cars inside the top-10 opted to head to pit road after Josh Bilicki blew the engine in his Spire Motorsports entry, Jonathan Hassler kept Blaney’s No. 12 Advanced Auto Parts Ford Mustang on the race track and restarted the race third with four laps to go.
On the restart, Blaney could not attack leaders Chase Elliott or Kurt Busch but instead had to defend his position with the hard charging Chevrolets of Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain.
A firm driving line by Blaney was able to keep the two cars at bay and earn another podium finish with a third-place effort, collecting his sixth top-five of the 2022 season.
The finish could be considered a victory for seven-time NASCAR Cup Series winner after qualifying sixth on Saturday morning, Blaney struggled to keep the handling underneath throughout the race, including even losing control of his automobile while racing Harrison Burton for a spot inside the top-15 on Lap 205.
Thankfully, a little patience and strategy propelled the 28-year-old driver back through the field and onto his ninth top-10 finish of the year.
“I thought hot and slick during the day we were pretty competitive and then something went down and I didn’t think we were as good,” explained Blaney after the race. “I’m not sure as the race kind of kept progressing later into the night I thought we lost some ground between some of the other cars. I had to go to the back and then spun out trying too hard.
“Jonathan (Hassler) made a good call to stay out the last stop. Why not, running ninth and was able to run third, so that was a good call by him. Overall, I wish it was in the hot and slick of the day because I thought we were a little bit more competitive, but not a bad finish.”
With nine races remaining in the regular season, Blaney sits a comfortable third in the championship standings, 31 points in the arrears to Elliott but the son of former Cup Series driver Dave Blaney is desperately hoping to charge his model consistency into race wins and Playoff points before time runs outs when the regular season concludes at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in late August.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
