There is no panic button on the instrumental panel of a NASCAR race car. And even if there was, Ryan Blaney insists he would not push it. Not even after all the misfortune he has run into this season.
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion hopes to leave all the bad that has happened to the No. 12, Ford Penske Team in his dust on June 1 in the fifth annual Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway (6:30 p.m. CT, Amazon Prime Video) where Blaney has run well at times and not so well other times.
Because of various issues Blaney has failed to finish five of 13 races this season. Three of those races ― Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami ― were run consecutively and the latest came last week at Charlotte when on Lap 245 Daniel Suarez spun into Blaney, forcing Blaney to hit the wall.
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“When we have run all the races we’ve been really good, it’s just a matter of trying to get some stuff going our way,” Blaney said. “Hopefully, we’re getting it all out of the way early. That’s what I’m trying to tell myself. I don’t feel panicked or down about anything. We’re just trying to get it smoothed out.”
It’s difficult to say if Nashville Superspeedway is a track where Blaney can count on doing well. The only pattern he’s shown on the 1.33-mile concrete oval is that he runs really well one year and really poorly the next.
In 2021 he pitted with damage to his car before the green flag then hit the wall on turn 2 during the race after experiencing brake trouble and finished 37th. In 2022 Blaney finished third after leading during the second stage. In 2023 Blaney did not finish after losing control and hitting the inside wall on Lap 146 and in 2024 he was sixth after leading 26 laps.
“Two years ago I hit that inside wall real hard, the biggest hit of my life,” Blaney said. “But I like this place. I enjoy coming here for multiple reasons. I think the track is great. The area is obviously really, really nice and we get a great turnout for the race. Hopefully, we can get a chance to get a guitar trophy. The trophy is pretty neat.”
It has been a multitude of problems that have plagued Blaney’s team this season and overshadowed his third place finishes at Texas and Kanas along with four other top 10s.
“At least we’re not having one issue happen over and over,” Blaney said. “Whether it’s motors or wrecks, it seems like it’s something different every time. I’ve always just tried to look at it like, ‘How are we doing as a 12 team as a whole? Are we doing everything we need to do well? Are we communicating well, are we operating well?’ That’s been really good, so I’ve been happy with that. Some of that other stuff, you can’t really do much about so there’s no use in getting too frustrated about it.”
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
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