News

THE RACE

Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast 300
Chicagoland Speedway
Saturday, September 13, 2014

THE RESULTS

No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang
Driver: Ryan Blaney
Starting Position: 2
Finish Position: 4
Owners' Points Position: 1

THE RACE REVIEW

· Ryan Blaney, making his second-straight NASCAR Nationwide Series start for Team Penske, qualified second for Saturday’s 300-mile race at Chicagoland Speedway.  It was the second time in his last three NNS races that Blaney had qualified on the outside on the front row.

· Despite fighting through some early-race radio issues, Blaney slotted the No. 22 Team Penske machine in the third position as the race began.  Almost immediately, the 20-year-old began to radio in that his Mustang was extremely loose.

· Following rain all day on Friday, a competition caution on lap 25 saw Blaney make his first pit stop of the day.  On the stop, Blaney slid through his pit box, losing several positions in the process.  When the green came back out, Blaney found himself in the 14th position.

· With the Discount Tire Ford Mustang still extremely loose, at times to the point that it was nearly undriveable, Blaney marched from 14th to seventh over the course of the next green-flag run.

· On the next round of pit stops, crew chief Jeremy Bullins called for six rounds of adjustment on the track bar.  Even with the adjustments, Blaney complained the car was still extremely loose.  However, Blaney was again able to drive from 12th to seventh during the run.

· Bullins continued to make massive track bar adjustments over the course of the event.  With the added time on pit road, Blaney found himself battling from the back of the field on several occasions.  A bad restart on lap 99 saw Blaney fall from eighth to 13th.  Once again, when things got spread out, the youngster was able to race back into the top-10.

· On the final pit stop of the day, Bullins called for just two tires and fuel, giving Blaney track position on the rest of the field.  With several other cars gambling by either staying out or taking just fuel, Blaney looked to be in a great spot restarting seventh.

· Over the final 30 laps, Blaney was able to race his way from seventh to fourth as the race came to a conclusion.  It was Blaney’s sixth top-five and ninth top-10 finish in 10 NNS races this season.

· The No. 22 now holds a 15-point lead over the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team in the Nationwide Series Owners’ Championship.
    

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

RYAN BLANEY, NO. 22 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG

YOU HAD A VERY UP AND DOWN DAY WITH A LOOSE CAR AND SOME TOUGH RESTARTS.  HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO GET A TOP-FIVE FINISH OUT OF IT?

“We really struggled out there today.  We had a Discount Tire Ford Mustang that was just so loose all day long.  We threw the sink at it on changes.  Getting the right rear in the wall might have been the biggest thing to tighten it up all day. We tried everything to tighten it up and made little gains but not a lot. I think on one stop, we did six rounds on the track bar and then on another stop we did about five rounds on it.  We were making swings.  Jeremy Bullins did a great job of adjusting to it and being able to hang with this car all day even though it isn’t what we wanted. We want to be in victory lane but when the day started like that I would have taken a fourth and it is good to see the resilience of this team and being able to come home with a decent finish.”