HAMPTON, Ga: At one point during Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, it appeared that Ryan Blaney’s opportunity to score a top-10 finish were jailed.
However, the Team Penske driver rallied back from a Stage 2 speeding penalty on pit road and contended for his first NASCAR Cup Series win of the season before a late race shuffled left the driver of the No. 12 BodyArmor Smart Water Ford Mustang with a seventh place finish.
Without a doubt, Ford came to Atlanta with the thought of spoiling Chevrolet’s early season party success and when the manufacturer dominated qualifying on Saturday morning, many were left wondering whether or not the Ford teams could continue the same pace throughout the 260-lap race.
They did.
From the Ford Performance camp, the Team Penske cars of Blaney, Austin Cindric and Joey Logano seemed to have the most consistent speed and that was evident throughout the race.
Blaney, however, showcased it cleverly by keeping his race car just one lap down after serving his pass-thru penalty and then again roaring from the back of the field after being the free pass beneficiary following the Lap 190 caution.
Over the next 70 laps of the race, Blaney methodically and patiently negotiated his way forward and even dodged a five car accident on Lap 209 in Turn 4 to set himself to restart the race near the top-10.
On the restart, Blaney used a fast car and the draft to slingshot his way through the open space and entered the top-six in the closing laps of the race.
The action at the front of the pack heated up on a cold, brisk day at the 1.5-mile speedway with the white flag waving with Blaney battling the No. 7 of Corey LaJoie for fifth.
On the bottom lane and the third car in line, Blaney tried to muscle his way inside the top-five but with momentum building on the top lane led by Ford teammate and race winner Joey Logano, Blaney would be edged by Denny Hamlin who finished nine one thousands of a second ahead at the checkered flag.
The performance was the second top-10 in a row for the No. 12 team and third overall in the opening five races of the 2023 season.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email him at [email protected]
