DOVER, Del. – Dover International Speedway wasn’t kind to Ryan Blaney in 2017, but during Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, the Team Penske driver shined and captured his sixth top-10 finish of the season with an eighth-place finish in the AAA 400.
More importantly, his finish in the No. 12 Duracell Ford Fusion snapped a three-race stretch where Blaney finished outside the top-15 including a 35th place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway last month.
Early in the race, Blaney fought a loose-handling race car but as the race pressed on, the handling condition changed with the High Point, N.C. native combating a tight race car through the end of Stage 2 to finish eighth.
Over the final stage, crew chief Jeremy Bullins continued to work on improving the handling for Blaney, but with limited opportunities to adjust on pit road, Blaney would hover in the back half of the top-10, claiming eighth when the checkered flag fell.
“We had a decent day with our Menards / Duracell Ford,” said Blaney. “We fought a tight car all day and slowly made progress as the race went along. Big thanks to my team that made improvements on our car from practice on Friday to today. We struggled last year at Dover, so to bring home a solid finish is a step in the right direction.”
For the NASCAR Next alumnus, he matched his career-best performance at the Monster Mile after he captured an eighth-place finish in his track debut in 2016 driving for Wood Bros. Racing.
The finish also propelled him to seventh in the championship standings after 11 races.
Heading to Kansas Speedway next weekend, the 24-year-old carries an average finish of 12.6 in his first year driving for Team Penske.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
