News

THE RACE

Kansas Lottery 300
Kansas Speedway
Saturday, October 4, 2014
 
THE RESULTS

The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang
Driver: Ryan Blaney
Starting Position: 2
Finish Position: 3
Owners' Points Position: 1

THE RACE REVIEW

· Ryan Blaney, driving the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang, qualified second for Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event, the Kansas Lottery 300, at Kansas Speedway.

· As the race began, Blaney found himself being a little conservative on the initial start and the several subsequent early restarts.  Because of that, and a loose car, Blaney slipped back a few positions before marching his way back to the front.

· Blaney was able to move from fourth to the lead for the first time on lap 37.  The 20-year-old would hold the top spot until a round of pit stops on lap 47.

· Following the restart, Blaney and fellow Ford driver Chris Buescher got together while racing for second.  Luckily, both drivers were able to continue on with minimal damage and Blaney set his sights on leader Brendan Gaughan.

· Blaney would retake the lead on lap 55 and hold the top spot again until lap 75.  During the stretch out front, Blaney thought he might have a left rear tire going down following the earlier contact with Buescher.  Luckily, another caution flew and the No. 22 Discount Tire team was able to get four fresh tires on the Ford Mustang.

· Over the next 70 laps, Blaney would hold court in the top-five as green flag and final pit stops got underway.  Despite a slow stop from the Discount Tire team, Blaney found himself third but a lap down when yet another caution waved.

· After taking the wave around, Blaney was able to restart the race third but slipped back to sixth with less than 40 laps to go.  After getting settled in and strung out, Blaney moved back up to third and began to track the leaders down, running times nearly two- to three-tenths faster than those in front of him.

· Over the final laps, the Discount Tire Ford got extremely loose with Blaney nearly spinning out on several occasions.  Despite the ill-handling condition, the youngster was able to grab a third-place finish as the checkers flew.

· The No. 22 now holds a 27-point lead over the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team in the Nationwide Series Owners’ Championship with just four races remaining.
    

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

RYAN BLANEY, NO. 22 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG

BEFORE HALFWAY, IT LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD THE BEST CAR OUT THERE.  DID THINGS CHANGE AS THE RACE WENT ON?

“I was just a little bit too free there that last bit. We should have just tightened up a little more. The track was cooling off and getting a little bit looser. We just didn’t adjust enough. That is partially my fault. I didn’t want to adjust as much as Jeremy (Bullins, crew chief) wanted to. That is unfortunate but we had a great Discount Tire Ford Mustang today. All in all not a bad day.”

DESPITE THAT, YOU HAD A REALLY SOLID DAY.

“We started off really good and in the middle of the race we were really good. We had green flag stops and Kevin (Harvick) stayed out because he pitted a little before everybody on that previous caution. That caught everybody a lap down and that put us behind a little bit. I’m happy about it though.  We had a fast Discount Tire Ford Mustang.  We were one of the best cars, if not the best car out there today I think.  We just didn’t have the adjustments that we needed there at the end.  But if we can’t win and the 54 ends up winning, we need to stay as close to them as we can and that’s what we were able to do today.  We’ve got four more races to win this Owners’ Championship for Roger and all the guys in the shop.”