DARLINGTON, S.C: Ryan Blaney knew he was in a precarious spot when he arrived at Darlington Raceway. Sitting in the 12th position in the playoff standings, the Team Penske driver knew that he would have to stay above the cut-off-line with a win or enough points to move him up in the standings.
Starting the first stage of the Cook Out Southern 500 in the fourth position, the Hartford, Ohio native was quiet on the radio for about 28 laps when he would communicate to the team that he was too loose in the corners. The team told him, “No problem. We’ll get you fixed up.”
With green flag pit stops underway, the No. 12 Menards | Richmond Water Heaters Ford Driver would come to his stall for a new set of Goodyear tires, fuel, and an adjustment. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler tells him to “Take care of your stuff. ”
In a long green flag Stage 1, Blaney would have another pit stop before the end of the stage, telling the team that he was “Not as tight this round.
Neutral balance. Just trying to take care of the tires.”
Before the start of Stage 2, Blaney would come to pit road to get another set of tires, fuel and a minor adjustment, returning to the track in fifth place.
Going back to green for Stage 2, it was clear that Blaney was frustrated with the tire wear and the No. 6 car of Brad Keselowski and his aggressive driving style.
Hassler would tell his driver, “No worries. You have 230 laps to get back by him.”
Caution would come out on Lap 180 for no lights on the inside of the track through Turn 3 and Blaney would tell the team, “The front end wasn’t spectacular, and I am plus five rounds in my brakes.”
After a brief break to fix the lights at the track, Blaney would restart the stage in the seventh position, looking to move forward, but tire grip and forward drive continued to be a problem for the Ford driver at The Lady in Black.
Ending the second stage in the seventh position, he would once again come to pit road for tires, fuel and an adjustment but would return to the track in the 24th position as only a few cars returned for a stop.
“It kind of happened really quickly at the end of stage two. We adjusted for it a little bit but didn’t think it was gonna be that drastic. It was just doing massive swings. It was such a big swing that I thought something was wrong.”
The tight conditions would continue to be a problem for the Team Penske driver, but with constant assurance from the team, Blaney would work his way up through the field.
“This race is such a weird race. It just goes through so many swings throughout the day and night. You start off the race in the full sun and it’s hot and by the end of the second stage, it’s all nighttime and the track temp changes.
“This place is really tricky with how the track changes, and it went the complete opposite way of what we thought it was going to go, so that kind of threw us for a little bit of a loop.”
Strategy by the team between the pit stops and cautions would bring Blaney forward in the field to end the day in ninth place.
“It was just a weird pit strategy race, too. You usually don’t get that here, but just the way the cautions fell,” explained Blaney.
“Luckily, we were able to get back to ninth. It was a hard-fought battle, for sure. I’m proud of the effort and it was a decent day on points.”
One race down and two to go in the Round of 16, Blaney sits ninth in the playoff standings with 16 points above the cutline; Blaney will still need to continue his success in the next two races to advance to the Round of 12.
Next up for Blaney is the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 10, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. ET
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