NASCAR’s Ryan Blaney crashes out of FanShield 500 at Phoenix after hitting Denny Hamlin
.JPG "Brad Keselowski (2) and Denny Hamlin (11) crash during lap 65 of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Phoenix Raceway, Sunday, March 8, 2020, in Avondale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)")
Ryan Blaney’s chance to win his first race of the season at the FanShield 500 in Phoenix ended less than halfway through Sunday’s race.
“From the car, I couldn’t really see it,” Blaney said after the crash. “A couple of us were three-wide. Happy to be on the top. I thought we were gonna run the top pretty good through (turns) three and four there.”
Coming out of the first caution of the day at Phoenix Raceway, Denny Hamlin struggled to round the third turn and spun toward the wall, in front of Blaney — this season’s Cup Series points leader. Brad Keselowski was also caught up in the crash.
Most of Hamlin’s damage was suffered in the rear of the car, while the front of Blaney’s No. 12 Ford took the brunt of the crash; he returned to the garage.
“Just a bystander in that one,” Blaney said. “Just sucked to end that early.”
Hamlin and Keselowski went back to pit road.
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This story was originally published March 8, 2020 at 4:34 PM.