By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
After starting on the pole, Ryan Blaney looked to continue the Team Penske win streak alive at ISM Raceway in the closing laps but was unable to do so by finishing third.
In the closing laps of the race, Blaney had to hold off eventual race winner Kyle Busch for the race; however, he had to do so by saving fuel, battling a tight car, and with four tires with different lap numbers on them.
“We had two tires and that got us track position,” Blaney said. “I think we restarted sixth or fourth or third and then got to the lead and just kept moving up every restart. That put us in that spot and it actually held on better than what I thought it was going to on two. It’s just we kind of caught up to lapped cars and got late in the run and then just started falling back.”
Once he was passed by Busch on Lap 297, Blaney knew he had no chance at the race win and went into further fuel conservation mode.
Despite not getting the win, Blaney was pleased with finishing third.
“It’s the kind of day we needed,” he said. “We’ve been poised to have days like this, contend for wins and run top 5 it just hasn’t happened this year. We haven’t gotten the finishes we deserved, and this is more like it, so that was good. This is a good place to start and hopefully we can keep on going.”