By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Sunday started well for Ryan Blaney at Texas Motor Speedway. And it finished well, too. It was that middle part, however, that made the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 a real toughie for the Team Penske No. 12 crew.
Starting fourth, the first non-Stewart-Haas Racing car at the drop of the green flag, Blaney drove straight to second past Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer. But the quick advancement took a hit following the first pit stop when Blaney returned to pit road with an uncontrolled tire violation on lap 46.
“We started off well, was running second,” Blaney said. “We worked out butt off to get back up there, got a lap down, got the free pass.”
Indeed, the penalty assessment under green cost Blaney a lap. And even after making up that lap, Blaney was brought to the ground again after suffering a loose wheel in Stage 2. This forced him to make a pit stop on lap 140.
What could’ve made the day tougher to come back from? How about some crash damage, as Blaney’s Ford suffered a damaged nose in the lap-179 seven-car crash in Turn 3.
“Such a long day. I thought it would never end,” he said. “I felt it was going to get worse and worse.”
Fortunately for Blaney, the Racing Gods eased their grip and let the Penske boy run free. And run he did, jumping back inside the top 10 before racing to finish fifth at the end of 334 laps. The result was his second straight top five, the first time he’s ever scored consecutive top fives in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
“Everybody did a good job to get back and have a solid finish,” he said. “Sucks to not get stage points but a solid finish and a good car. I hate it that we couldn’t see what we had with a 100-percent intact racecar. It shows the strength of this team.
“Good thing it was 500 miles, we needed about every bit of it.”