Ryan Blaney Laments “Terrible” Talladega Playoff Race Finish

Team Peske Racing’s Ryan Blaney was left puzzled after losing the Talladega playoff race due to the lack of support from his Ford teammates.

Ryan Blaney Laments “Terrible” Talladega Playoff Race Finish

Ryan Blaney confronting Kyle Larson after Gateway crash (via nascar.com)

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The NASCAR Cup playoff race on Sunday at Talladega witnessed a smart race from Chase Briscoe, earning Joe Gibbs Racing second consecutive win of the R-8. While the Toyota team is celebrating having two drivers in the championship-4 race already, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano’s Team Penske Racing have found themselves a dreadful position.

In the final restart of the race Ryan Blaney found himself in the lead, with Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece pushing him in the inside lane. But they failed to keep up the pace as the race progressed and just faded into insignificance, leaving the No:12 Ford driver puzzled why he didn’t get enough push.

Yeah, I thought we did a good job. Got control of the race after the last pit stop and just faded. Had some guys saving or something, I don’t know, and wouldn’t push. And was pretty surprising that some guys weren’t pushing.

Ryan Blaney said after the race (via On3.com.)

The 2023 Cup Series champion is going into the Martinsville race after going back home from Dega with a 47 points deficit. Talking about the race, he admitted that he thought he as well as teammate Joey Logano was in a good position to secure an opportunistic win, only to score a terrible finish.

Figured that we’d have a little more help than that from some people. But yeah, I thought we did a great job getting ourselves into the position we needed, me and Joey. Then it just fell apart and finished terrible. So, try to go have a big day next week. All we can do.

Ryan Blaney added.

Further talking about the point, he was asked about the possibility of winning at Martinsville, where he has won thrice. In response, he asserted that it is going to be hard job, considering the current pace deficit they have. They need to dig deep, work hard and find a solution to the lack of pace with their Mustangs.

So, what, we’ve won there twice… You never know what’s going to happen year after year. People have been saying, ‘Oh, Blaney is going to win Martinsville easy. It’s (expletive). It’s hard. I don’t know what speed we’re going to have. It’s nice that we’ve won there a couple of times, but we’ve got to dig down deep for this one.

Ryan Blaney asserted.

Joey Logano explained how he and Ryan Blaney lost momentum at Talladega

Just like his teammate Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano is also flying back home surprised with why the Fords didn’t give them the push they needed to win the race. He asserted that the fuel saving strategy from the bottom lane drivers caused the situation.

Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney (via Imago)
Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney (via Imago)

The car behind me was saving gas. That doesn’t help. That kills the whole bottom lane. Cars are pulling down in front of us. We just keep getting demoted from the first two cars to third in line, fourth in line and then next thing you know we’re all in the back.

Joey Logano said.

Despite back-to-back disappointing races, Joey Logano and Blaney are still in the championship contention, as they have a history grinding results under huge pressure. The major challenge they are facing going into next week is the fact that all four driver that are outside the cutline is in a must win situation, making it a harder battle.

Also Read: (Video) William Sawalich Hospitalized After Wild Talladega Xfinity Race Wreck