LAS VEGAS, Nev: Ryan Blaney appeared headed towards a jackpot finish in Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
Then he busted.
After leading 39 laps on Sunday and appeared to be heading back towards the race lead in the deep run of Stage 3, Blaney’s No. 12 Menards | Knauf Ford got loose in Turn 2 on Lap 228 and hit the outside wall before spinning down the backstretch into the outside wall where he suffered heavy damage to his race car.
The fuming driver was able to gently drive his battered machine back to pit road where his Team Penske team quickly but effectively went into damage repair mode – piecing back as much of the race car as they could to allow Blaney to maintain minimum speed and salvage points in the opening race for the Round of 8.
Completing their repairs in under the 10-minute allotment clock, Blaney was able to meet in minimum speed by more than a second in the opening two laps of him returning to the race beat.
Over the final 39 laps of the race, the team was able to utilize the final two cautions of the race to continue minimal repairs on his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang.
Dropping to as low 32nd on the leaderboard, Blaney would finish the race in 28th and find himself on the outside looking in with just two races remaining in the penultimate round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
“Got loose. Hit the fence. That’s about all,” Blaney said after the race regarding the incident.
Obviously disappointed in himself, Blaney took some solace knowing he heads to Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway next weekend where he participated in one of NASCAR-approved tests with strong results.
Blaney is hoping to return to the Sunshine State next week and pickup where he left off from the test – but more importantly surge his Jonathan Hassler-led team back into Championship 4 contention.
“It was nice that we were fast today, it’s unfortunate the way it ended,” added Blaney. “I thought we had a decent test in Miami a couple weeks ago and hopefully the speed carries over.”
Seeded seventh in the Playoffs standings and 11 points below the cutline, Blaney expressed it was unfortunate that a driver error hindered the opportunity to gain more points Sunday – but he has two more opportunity at Homestead and the October 30 race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
“It stinks to not capitalize on a fast car today, making a driver error,” expressed Blaney. “(But) we got two more of ‘em. Try to make it up and see what we can do.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
