For a while Sunday, Ryan Blaney looked like a driver who might win at Phoenix Raceway. Then he looked like a driver who couldn’t wait to get out of his race car.
Somehow, both versions of Blaney showed up in the same afternoon.
The Team Penske driver started from the pole, struggled through the middle of the Freeway Insurance 500 and spent much of the race trying to find the speed he’d shown at the green flag. By the time it was over, he had climbed back to second place behind Tyler Reddick.
He didn’t get the trophy. But with three races remaining in the NASCAR Chase, Blaney got something he badly needed: points.
The runner-up finish left him 40 points behind championship leader Kyle Larson, whose own miserable afternoon ended in 34th.
Ryan Blaney Goes From the Pole to Fighting His Own Car
Blaney had reason to feel confident when he arrived at Phoenix. He qualified first Saturday, leading a Team Penske front-row sweep with teammate Joey Logano, and the No. 12 Ford showed plenty of speed early Sunday.
Then the race began slipping away from him.
A caution cost Blaney track position, and a slow left-side tire change added to his problems. Meanwhile, the cars around him were getting faster. Blaney wasn’t.
His frustration spilled over the radio while he was running fifth.
“I don’t do anything good. I don’t have front grip, don’t have rear grip,” he complained.
That wasn’t exactly the assessment you’d expect from the driver who had been fastest in qualifying.
Blaney later explained that the car had been competitive at the start, but things changed once he lost track position.
“I thought the first run of the race we were pretty good,” Blaney told NASCAR.com
after the race. “Then had the yellow there and lost some track position, and I didn’t seem as good after that.”
He watched Logano, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe improve while his team searched for answers.
Blaney and his crew kept adjusting the car, though, and eventually their persistence paid off. The No. 12 began moving forward again, turning what had looked like a disappointing afternoon into a legitimate run at the front.
“So we just worked on our car really hard through the day to get better,” Blaney said. “And we did, which was great.”
Blaney Leaves Phoenix With Something Bigger Than Second Place
By the closing laps, Blaney had worked his way into second. Catching Reddick was another matter.
The No. 45 Toyota had the speed to finish the job, leaving Blaney to settle for runner-up honors after an afternoon that had tested his patience.
Still, the championship implications made the result easier to accept.
Larson entered Sunday with a 49-point advantage in the Chase standings. His 34th-place finish created an opening, and Blaney took advantage by cutting his deficit to 40 points.
It wasn’t the kind of dominant performance Blaney had hoped for after winning the pole. In some ways, though, it told him more about his team’s ability to respond when things went wrong.
“So proud of the effort of everyone for sticking through it all day,” he said. “It just didn’t quite happen to chase down the 45.”
And while Blaney would have preferred to leave Phoenix celebrating a victory, he wasn’t about to complain about the points he’d gained.
“Gained a lot of points today, so it’s hard to be upset about that,” Blaney said. “Try to go the next three weeks and do the same.”
Blaney knows he can’t afford many more afternoons spent chasing the handling of his race car. But Sunday’s recovery ensured he didn’t leave Phoenix wondering how much worse his championship situation could have become.
Instead, he’s leaving with three races to close the gap.