It took not one, but two late-race accidents to knock Ryan Blaney and the Quick Lane Ford Fusion out of contention in the rain-delayed Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Blaney was running as strong as he ever had in three attempts at the Brickyard, finishing third in the first two stages and even leading five laps early in Stage 2. His pit strategy was proving correct until Kyle Larson spun in front of the No. 21, causing damage that required an extra visit to pit lane. He worked his way back to 16th place then was caught up in another crash at the start of the first of two overtime restarts.
“I saw smoke,” Blaney explained. “A car got sideways. I checked up and got run over. If I didn’t check up, I’d run into it. I checked up and got run into.
“We were good, running top five all day long and the strategy worked great and I thought we were on the right side of things, then the yellows came out and gave the guys who stayed out some breaks to come in and get tires with us and cycle up to the lead,” Blaney continued. “Before that we ran good, finished third in the first two stages. It was a lot of fun all day running up near the front. It’s the best car I have had here at Indy.”
Having a fast car at Indianapolis is a positive for Blaney and his Wood Brothers Racing teammates.
“That gives us confidence that we have our cars where they need to be going forward,” he said. “Now we’ll go to Pocono which is a good track for us.”
Blaney remains seventh in the NASCAR Playoff standings with his Pocono win and eight playoff points
Pocono Raceway, scene of Blaney’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup victory in June, hosts the Overton’s 400 on Sunday, July 30, at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
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