The first quarter of the season has been a rollercoaster for Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 crew. He went from leading the driver standings after the first two races to a string of three consecutive DNFs (two engine issues, one crash) from Phoenix to Homestead. But after a fifth-place performance at Bristol, which marks Blaney’s second consecutive race with a fifth-place finish, it signals that the 2023 Cup Series champion may be starting to find a rhythm.
In Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Blaney and Kyle Larson were the only two drivers to net top-10 ratings in all five NASCAR Insights statistical categories — passing, defense, speed, restarts and pit crew. While he didn’t finish runner-up to race-winner Larson, the performance overall merits one that Blaney deserved after having a stretch of misfortune that also included a handful of pit-road woes at Darlington that cost him a chance to win.
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It was a different story, though, at the “Last Great Colosseum” as Blaney’s complete race craft was rewarded. The No. 12 Team Penske driver was consistently fast, rated as having the fourth-quickest car. Blaney made that speed count by executing clean passes, especially after his crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, made a gamble to stay late on older tires in the final stage, leading Blaney to charge up from ninth during his final stint. His defensive driving was equally sharp, rated eighth overall, helping him fend off pressure during long green-flag runs.
“It was a good risk to take,” Blaney told FOX Sports after the race. “I thought Jonathan did a good job of taking a chance. We weren’t going to win, I was already running fifth and at the end of the day we got back to where we were running, which is good. I took a chance trying to get a yellow and trapping a bunch of guys lap down, but really good effort.”
The No. 12 crew also rebounded as they rated eighth-best in pit-crew performance, which marks a significant improvement from their season average of 25th. The combination of speed, different tire strategy and a clean day from the crew gave Blaney a race where he wasn‘t playing catch-up but rather showing what his team is capable of when they are firing on all cylinders.
“Honestly, a really good weekend by the 12 boys,” Blaney added. “I thought we got better and better from practice, which was good. I didn’t think we were very good yesterday in race trim, so they did a great job of getting us to where we need to be and getting better all day. Like you said, blue-collar day.”
Blaney’s season average rating in passing and speed rank first and second, which is another indication that the Bristol result aligns with the pace Blaney has shown throughout the season but hasn‘t been able to convert. While the Cup Series takes this weekend off, he will look to keep the momentum going Sunday, April 27 at Talladega (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio), a track where he has three wins, eight top 10s and 290 laps led.
Other notables from Sunday:
— Ross Chastain charged up from 35th to seventh despite having a passing rating of 13 and a speed rating of 11.
— The two Spire Motorsport cars of Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley each had speed ratings in the top six.
— Chase Briscoe had the best passing rating in the race but had a defense rating of 15th and was 13th-best on restarts.
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