On the final restart in Phoenix, Ryan Blaney almost made the right pass to get the lead. He fell short in P2 as William Byron won. The NASCAR driver was quiet for most of the afternoon. However, cautions in the final stage started to pile up and put him back in the race.
On one caution flag pit stop, Ryan Blaney was able to pick up three spots. He thought that he’d have a line to get up next to Byron. That window closed quickly. Still, all things considered, Blaney had a great finish that put him into a top-five spot.
After the race, he talked about the last stop and how the last restart went.
“Yeah I think we did a good job putting two on there. I wanted to be third, I wanted to be on the bottom just in case you know the leader slides out and you can kinda roll the bottom. That’s kinda what happened. I thought I was in a good spot off two, being underneath of him. I think the 24 got some help from the 45 kind of from the back and got clear and I wasn’t able to stay side-by-side with him.”
Meanwhile, on Twitter, he reflected the day after. He still seems happy with the effort. This was one of those races where Blaney was “elbows up” for most of it.
Right now, Ryan Blaney is just trying to get the hang of things this season. Get back in the groove. A single top-five and a couple of top-10 finishes have helped out along the way, though.
Ryan Blaney Leads Team Penske in Points Standings
When it comes to the NASCAR Cup Series standings, there has been a clear divide. Early in the season, the Hendrick Motorsports teams have gotten out to a fast start. Alex Bowman leads the standings with William Byron and Kyle Larson are nestled in at fourth and fifth.
Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney is leading the way for Team Penske. He has put himself in eighth place with 124 points. He isn’t the first Ford, that goes to Kevin Harvick in second. If all goes well, those Fords will start to move up slowly.
With a solid finish under his belt, Ryan Blaney might find a wave of confidence. NASCAR is all about hitting those bits of momentum at the right time. William Byron has taken advantage of it so far. Perhaps Blaney is next.
