NASCAR Cup Series superstar Ryan Blaney is looking to end his two-week trip to Daytona on a high note in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Road Course.
The Team Penske driver was leading on the last lap of The Clash at Daytona on February 9 until Chase Elliott booted the No. 12 Ford Mustang out of the way in the frontstretch chicane.
Blaney ended in the wall and Elliott was overtaken by Kyle Busch for the victory.
Last Sunday in the Daytona 500, Blaney showcased a competitive No. 12 Menards | Blue Def | Peak For Mustang but was one of more than a dozen vehicles collected in a Lap 15 pileup.
Blaney ended The Great American Race with a dismal 30th place finish and left the four-time Cup winner frustrated knowing he had a chance at his first Daytona 500 victory.
“Didn’t work out for either of us, we were just hard,” reflected Blaney on The Clash incident with Elliott. “Tried to protect to try not to get dived bombed like that, but just came together.
“Learned a lot for next week.”
Indeed, Blaney is likely to be a factor at the Daytona Road Course Sunday – often regarded as one of the sport’s superb road course drivers, but he will have to come from deep in the field if he hopes to clutch his first win of 2021.
Blaney will also hit a milestone this weekend as he makes his 200th career NASCAR Cup Series start. Blaney, who has four career series wins, made 88 starts during his three seasons driving with the Wood Brothers.
His other 111 starts have come with Team Penske and include a victory on the Charlotte Roval in 2018.
Blaney will start 27th on the grid in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at the Daytona Road Course and is hoping that history won’t repeat itself fighting for the race win in route to getting his second NASCAR Cup Series road-course win.
Coverage begins Sunday at 3:00 pm Eastern on FOX.
Follow Zach Grafe on Twitter @z_grafe83.
CATCHFENCE.com editor Chris Knight contributed to this report.
