By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600, the longest race in NASCAR history at 607.5 miles distance, was worth the wait for Ryan Blaney.
In another one-day show for NASCAR Cup Series competition during the coronavirus pandemic, qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway was only a few hours before the race start. Starting 26th, Blaney had a lot of work to do to improve his No. 12 Team Penske Ford.
While teammate Joey Logano led 26 laps and won Stage 3, it was Brad Keselowski who scored the victory in an overtime finish. Blaney, meanwhile, had established himself as a top-five contender. And in overtime, he advanced to the fourth position at the line, a 22-spot gain from the race start.
“I had to pass a bunch of cars tonight,” Blaney said. “I think we got that award. I thought we were in a good spot on the restart with 45 or 48 [laps] to go and somebody got loose on the bottom into [Turn] 3 and we had to go up to the wall to miss him.”
Following Jimmie Johnson’s disqualification from second place, Blaney would be credited with a third-place result. It was his first top five since the Daytona 500 and first in the Coke 600.
“I thought our car was pretty competitive, probably not the best car out there, but definitely a top-five car all night,” he said.
Honored to have LT. Donald Cioffi on our car last night. Remember what this day is about. https://t.co/lVSCcISuDn pic.twitter.com/IlKCbbucAL
— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) May 25, 2020
When William Byron spun in Turn 2 with two laps to go, it set up a half-dash to pit road with crew chiefs pondering whether to stay out or pit for the overtime finish. Blaney’s crew chief Todd Gordon chose to stay out for the crucial track position, which proved beneficial when a stack-up occurred mid-pack on the restart.
“It was a good call to stay out there at the end, I thought,” he said. “We restarted fourth and gave us a chance. We would have come home with a decent day, but we passed a lot of cars and definitely had a long night working on it.”
The last restart gave Blaney the chance, however, he wasn’t able to keep with teammate Keselowski, who cleared the pack and won for the 31st time in Cup.
“I wasn’t sure where [Keselowski] was going to restart,” he said. “Honestly, the bottom lane, for some reason, the restart zone has a lot more grip than the top. With us being on 35-40-lap old tires, I thought he was going to pick the bottom. You’re in a precarious spot. You want to win the race and everything, but you definitely don’t want to push the [No.] 48 [Johnson] by him.
“I wanted to at least be even and for us to have a shot at getting a good finish. It worked out for us. Brad’s restart choice paid off and I figured he was going to take the bottom, but I was happy with the top. It worked out all right for us.”
Blaney leaves Sunday seventh in driver points, ending a streak of five straight races finishing outside the top 10.