Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, has certainly been close to claiming his first Daytona 500 victory. The 24-year old has finished runner-up twice in the last four years, including 2020. He led a dominating 118 of the 207 laps to finish seventh in 2018. And Blaney said he’s more encouraged than frustrated by the near-misses.
“Obviously, I’ve had a good shot of winning the 500, I’d say three times I had a really good shot of winning it. In ’17, we run second. In ’18, we had the fastest car and we got caught up in that wreck at the end that I caused on accident, and last year we lost by a couple of feet. You’re frustrated at the time, in the moment because you just lost the race, but looking back on it I’m not frustrated by it.
“I’ve looked at it as I’ve had a couple of really great opportunities to win the 500, what can I do better or different to give us a better shot at it again. That’s kind of how I look at it, but whether it’s something I did. I re-watch the race and I’m like, ‘Man if I’m by myself in this situation again I should do this differently and it might have given us a better shot to win that race.’
“That’s what I look at. I don’t really try to get frustrated by it. I just try to figure out ways to do things better in the moment if those situations come up again to give us a better shot at it.”
Source: Holly Cain | NASCAR Wire Service
