HOMESTEAD, Fla.—If Ryan Blaney suffered a moment of angst following NASCAR’s disqualification of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford at Las Vegas Motor Speedway–a penalty rescinded some 24 hours later–he didn’t show it on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Blaney had finished a respectable sixth in the South Point 400 last Sunday. Initially, he had lost the 39 points he gained in the race due to a shock not meeting NASCAR’s standings.
The infraction left Blaney 59 points below the cut line. Short of a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway or Martinsville Speedway, his Playoffs were over.
“We talked about it internally Monday morning as a group before we went to NASCAR and (were) able to talk to them,” Blaney said. “I appreciate NASCAR for being receptive to it and talking with us Monday and meeting with the parts at their R&D Center and understanding what the disconnect was between pre-race and post-race. That is a sealed part, so….
“Elton Sawyer (NASCAR Senior VP of Competition) and Brad Moran (Cup Series Director) were really great to us at being understanding and understanding that there was an issue there with the process, and they were able to fix it. A lot of emotions, but it was nice that it ended up, I think, as it should have.”
Once the points were restored, Blaney rose from the cellar in the Round of 8 to seventh, 17 points below the cut line. He adopted a neutral stance during the dilemma because at the time the situation was out of his control.
“I don’t know the whole inspection process,” Blaney said. “I am not there for that. So trying to learn about where the issue was and all that stuff was a little bit difficult for me. I was getting information from Jonathan (Hassler, crew chief) and Travis Geisler (Team Penske Competition Director) and stuff like that.
“When I heard about all the parts and pieces before they went to NASCAR, I felt like maybe they would be able to hear our case and work with us and figure out where was this disconnect. Luckily (they were). I wouldn’t say I was confident or unconfident, I was just hoping to see what happens, I guess.”
Despite his sixth-place finish, Blaney gave up ground to the competition at Las Vegas. He was sixth in the standings to start the round and dropped to seventh after the race. Knowing he faces an uphill battle to advance to the Championship 4 round, Blaney took the post-Vegas drama in stride.
“It really didn’t change a ton for me,” Blaney said. “We had a good day at Vegas. It stinks we had a good day and lost points, so that kind of stinks. Then we lost a lot more points that evening. I flew on someone else’s plane and right when I turned my wifi on, that was the first text I got, that we got DQ’d. So then it was like, ‘Okay, we have to win one of the next two weeks.’ Then it got rescinded on Monday night.
“It would still be hard to make it, but it isn’t a must-win now. So it gives you a little more hope. I wasn’t like distraught or anything. That was the spot we were in and had a job to do, but now it has just change a little bit.”
Fortunately, Blaney likes Homestead-Miami Speedway—the site of this weekend’s 4EVER 400. The 29-year-old racer posted the third-fastest lap in practice. He was fifth-quick in Best 10 consecutive lap averages. What Blaney learned during practice and the first round of qualifying helped him qualify 10th for Sunday’s race—fifth among the remaining eight drivers in the Playoffs.
“I think our race run car was really strong and I was really happy with it on the long run,” Blaney said. “It wasn’t a great effort there in the second round, but I am happy with the speed we have for the race, so that is good.”
Blaney’s best finish at HMS was third in 2020. He was running in the top five last year before spinning out with 55 laps remaining in the race. While there’s an art to running the fence—and certainly significant speed on the high line—Blaney admits the practice is a balance of risk versus reward.
“I think it depends on what your car is doing and a lot of it is confidence in how well you can run it,” Blaney said. “I think (Kyle) Larson runs it no matter what his car is doing just because he is really good at doing it. I like to think that I am pretty decent at it.
“If we were still 56 points back I would be glued to it. During practice and during the race, I would be glued to the damn thing. Now it just depends. You understand what spot you are in. If you are having a good day and coming down to the end of the race or so, maybe you don’t plant it on the fence. Maybe you have gotten a good amount of points and running top five, you are assessing risk at that point.
“Larson will be dangerous because he is already in. He will be planted on the fence. It is just about the spot you are in at the time.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
