Leading eight laps and finishing fourth at Chicagoland Speedway last season gives Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team confidence this weekend as the NASCAR Playoffs begin at the Tales of the Turtles 400.
A late-race pit strategy gamble put Blaney and the Wood Brothers’ iconic No. 21 Ford in position to win in overtime at Chicagoland a year ago but cars with newer tires were able to get by on the last re-start and he ended up with a very strong top-five result.
This is the first NASCAR postseason appearance for both Blaney and the Wood Brothers.
RYAN BLANEY
On the NASCAR Playoffs:
“I think the playoffs are going to be really good for us. I think the biggest thing is just not making mistakes, getting stage points and not messing up on pit road with speeding or things like that. You don’t want silly things happening that kind of take you out of the first round because I think round two is really, really strong for us. There are some really good tracks for us in there, but I’m proud to just be in it. It’s nice to be a part of it with the Wood Brothers in my last year with them and hopefully we can have a good 10 weeks. It’s gonna be fun.”
On Chicagoland Speedway:
“I think the first round is pretty strong for us and Chicago has always been a fast race track for us. I wish we went to Chicago a couple of times a year. It’s an amazing race track. I couldn’t think of a better place to start off the Playoffs. We’ve always seemed to run fairly well there and it’s a track I’ve personally enjoyed in the Cup series, trucks and XFINITY cars. I like going there and it’s always good to start your Playoff run on the right foot. We had a strong run there last year and hopefully we can repeat that if not do a little better.”
Ford Performance PR
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