Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
After a few frustrating weeks for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Ryan Blaney and his Wood Brothers Racing team, Michigan International Speedway brought the team a much welcomed fourth place finish in the Pure Michigan 400.
But, that fourth place finish wasn’t easily earned.
Blaney in his No. 21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford Fusion reported a flat right-front tire going into turn one on lap 62. Thankfully, the problem occurred during a round of green-flag pit stops which sent the driver to pit road for service.
Returning to the track, Blaney would have to fight a small hole in the hood as a result of the tire issue which luckily caused minimal aerodynamic issues at a track where speeds roar to 218 miles per hour.
“It just unraveled,” Blaney explained. “It didn’t blow. At least it went down in a spot where it really didn’t hurt us. We lost a lot of time but I’m surprised we didn’t hurt our car more. We were lucky it was kind of in a fuel window and that it didn’t happen again.”
A fast race car and smooth green-flag pit stops the rest of the day kept the driver among the leaders and a caution twelve laps from the finish stacked up the field, putting Blaney back into the mix of possible race winners.
While Blaney wasn’t able to contend for the victory as the checkered flag was thrown, the team’s fourth place finish Blaney’s seventh top-ten of the Sprint Cup and leaves him 17th in the championship standings but 20th on the Chase grid with two races remaining in the regular season.
“I was trying to push the 24 and the 4 was pushing me,” Blaney recounted of the final restart. “It was kind of a big bottleneck. I thought we were in a decent spot for that last re-start but it didn’t really work out great.”
The finished tied Blaney’s career-best finish in Cup dating back to the Spring Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway race last season where Blaney was the top performing blue oval behind Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Paul Menard.
“It was a solid day for us,” sounded Blaney. “It was one of the smoothest weekends we’ve had. We always want to win in Ford’s backyard but we did all we could do to run fourth. We were up toward the front most of the day. Some runs were better than others. It was kind of a decent day for us and there’s nothing to complain about.
“These are the days we need. These are the days this team deserves,” he added.
After having a car that could contend for the win last weekend at Bristol, Blaney did need a confidence boost and Michigan’s lower downforce package provided that.
But with just Darlington and Richmond remaining before the ten-race Chase schedule shifts into high gear, Blaney looks at the next two weekends to deliver a Hail Mary effort and put his Wood Brothers Racing team into Victory Lane and into the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
And, hey after Kyle Larson scored his first career victory Sunday, Blaney doesn’t need any more motivation than that.