Ryan Blaney has been NASCAR’s best driver this year, but he can’t escape the pit

Another week, another late-lap heartbreak for Ryan Blaney, who finished 19th at Sunday’s Auto Club 400.

Blaney, the No. 12 Ford driver for Team Penske who led the second-most laps Sunday, was running in second place behind eventual winner Alex Bowman with five laps to go when he said he felt his car vibrating. That forced him to pit for a tire change, dashing his hopes for a top-10 finish for the second week in a row.

“Racing happens,” Blaney said. “Just corded a right rear (tire) there at the end and gave up a good finish.”

The rubber on that tire had been run down to the inner threads, causing the vibration. Blaney ran a consistent race overall, winning the second stage and leading 54 of the 200 total laps (Bowman led 110).

As Blaney has done in the previous two races, he ran at the front of the pack for a majority of Sunday’s race, but when those final few laps came around, disaster again struck.

“Just lost the lead and they got (Bowman’s) better,” Blaney said. “I just kind of got too loose at the end there.”

For more race analysis from the Auto Club 400: What Alex Bowman wins the Auto Club 400. What 3 races have taught us about NASCAR in 2020.

Last week, it was a late-lap call to pit that took Blaney out of contention for the win and caused him to finish in 11th place. He was leading when a caution was called with six laps to go. When he pitted for a tire change, his Penske teammate Joey Logano did not. The call allowed Logano to soar to his first victory of the season, while Blaney watched from the back of a pack of cars that all pitted.

Blaney’s crew chief Todd Gordon apologized for the call after the race.

“I should have left you out,” Gordon radioed to Blaney. “My gut told me to. I didn’t. My bad.”

The week before, Blaney was involved in the devastating wreck in the last lap of the Daytona 500 which put No. 6 driver Ryan Newman in the hospital. As the two leaders raced down the straightaway in the final lap, Blaney tapped the back of Newman’s No. 6 Ford, in attempt, he said, to push a fellow Ford car to victory. Newman’s car instead spun out and flipped multiple times, and Denny Hamlin, who was running in third, slid by for a first-place finish. Blaney finished second.

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“Even though it is unintentional and it is racing, it still takes a toll on you when it is off of your nose,” Blaney said after the crash. “You never want to see anyone get hurt in this sport. We are all competitors, but we are also a big family.”

Blaney recovered to lead 19 laps and win the second-most points (tied with Kevin Harvick at 42 points) the following weekend at the Pennzoil 400. Sunday, he won the second stage and earned 37 points.

His consistency, while faltering in the final few laps, has paid off in points; Blaney is leading the Cup Series with 122 points — 11 more than Logano, giving Team Penske a strong start.

“But we got swallowed up on the restart and had to drive all the way back up there,” Blaney said. “So, just that one didn’t work out in our favor, but (we had a) really fast Body Armor Ford Mustang.”

Blaney, who has three career victories — most recently at Talladega in last year’s playoffs — will attempt to extend his point streak this coming weekend at the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Blaney knows those final laps and restarts are critical, and will try to avoid the same outcome.

“Just unfortunate end to the day,” Blaney said after Sunday’s race. “Again.”

Auto Club 400 results

This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 6:00 AM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription