What cost Ryan Blaney the win at Talladega?


What cost Ryan Blaney the win at Talladega?

Ryan Blaney (Images via IMAGO)

Ryan Blaney must be the unluckiest driver of the 2022 season. The Team Penske driver once again missed out on an easy win, this time at Talladega. He was outraced in the final lap by HMS driver Chase Elliott. Blaney was the only driver to make it to the playoff without a win.

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With just seven laps left in the race, NASCAR put out the caution for a pit-road incident involving Daniel Hamrick. Ryan Blaney was the leading driver and had a clear-cut chance of winning it. The race got restarted with just two laps left. Blaney was positioned on the front of bottom lane which had the bigger advantage.

Chase Elliott was able to have the perfect run in the final lap to ensure his fifth win of the season. He had the perfect push from Erik Jones favoring the end. Blaney, on the other hand, failed to take advantage of Michael McDowell’s push from behind as the Ford duo got disconnected in the final lap.

Also read: NASCAR President met with Denny Hamlin after the ‘bad leadership’ comments

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Find out what Ryan Blaney had to say about the P2 finish  

Ryan Blaney
Ryan Blaney

Ryan Blaney pointed out that he was comfortable lining up in either of the two lanes. He pointed out that he had Ross Chastain and Michael McDowell behind him who could have given him a good push. Blaney pointed out that he was able to get that good push and was able to pull away from Elliott while leading the upper lane squad.

I was fine lining up bottom or top, honestly, working with Ross there for a while. I knew he pushed good and I knew obviously Michael could push really good, too. So, I didn’t really care where we were gonna be lining up. I got a good push there and was able to get too good of a push on the restart and got the 9 clear and then he was able to lead the top lane,” Ryan Blaney said.

Ryan Blaney pointed out that he decided not to block the top lane pack as he was nervous to block the Chevy squad on top. His decision to stay out wasn’t affected by the mistrust towards Chase Elliott. He said that he decided to stay on the bottom with Michael since Elliott could have hung him out for the greater good of his group.

I had a couple of chances to move up to the top and cover it and I was just getting nervous about getting hung in the middle with the 9, the 43 and the 1 lined up. I just didn’t feel comfortable going up there and trusting, I trust Chase, but not that much to where he wouldn’t have hung me out for the greater good of his group, so just chose to stay on the bottom with Michael,” Ryan Blaney added.

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Ryan Blaney pointed out that he and Michael had the opportunity to win if they had stayed connected. He added that he was too late to react to the big run Erik Jones and Chase Elliott had. Blaney said that though it was a decent day it stinks to come this close to a first win of the season.

We had a great chance at winning the thing, but we got disconnected in the middle of three and four. I don’t know if the 11 laid off him, but we disconnected and let the 9 and 43 get a big run. Mine was just kind of a little bit too late. I’ll look at it and probably pick at a few things I probably should have done differently, wish I would have done differently, but it’s easy to say that now. Overall, it was a decent day. It just stinks to be that close to our first win of the season,” Ryan Blaney explained.

Do you think Ryan Blaney will win a race this season?

Also read: ‘What a way to ruin a great race,’ NASCAR Twitter reacts to Chase Elliott supposedly ‘rigged’ Talladega win

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Also read: Chase Elliott owes Erik Jones big time for his Talladega win