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THE RACE

BCBS Drive for the Cure 300
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Friday, October 10, 2014
 
THE RESULTS

The No. 12 Western Star Trucks Ford Mustang
Driver: Ryan Blaney
Starting Position: 19
Finish Position: 4

THE RACE REVIEW

· Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Western Star Trucks Ford Mustang team qualified 19th for Friday night’s BCBS Race for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Blaney fought a tight car in qualifying and failed to make it to the final round in knockout qualifying despite being one of the fastest cars in Thursday afternoon’s practice sessions.

· At the start of the event, Blaney fell victim to a chain-reaction accident coming to the green flag. Despite getting hit hard from behind, the damage to the No. 12 was minimal, and Blaney was able to keep going without coming to pit road for repairs.

· After losing a few positions in the first lap incident, Blaney began a slow and steady charge from 23rd. Much like qualifying, the Western Start Trucks Ford Mustang was extremely tight. The tight condition, coupled with high speeds, caused tires issues all evening long.  Luckily, Blaney had a slightly corded right front just as crew chief Greg Erwin called him to pit road for his first stop of the night.

· Before pit stops had cycled through, a caution caught the 20-year-old and most other front runners a lap down. The team had to take the wave around and restarted the race in the 14th position.

· Even though the car was still tight despite a number of major adjustments over the next couple of pit stops, Blaney continued to march toward the front, breaking into the top-10 by lap 80 and running as high as sixth

· Blaney was able to stay in the top-10 when, on lap 160, he radioed in that the water temperature was climbing due to trash on the grill. Blaney was able to suck the piece of debris off of the nose while passing a lapped car, and continued on without any major issues.

· A different pit strategy than the other front runners saw Blaney use his final set of sticker tires before the rest of the leaders. With just scuff tires left, Erwin called for a two-tire stop with less than 30 to go, getting Blaney out second.  On the ensuing restart, he was able to take the lead for the first time.

· Over the course of the final 25 laps, Blaney held the lead until teammate Brad Keselowski passed him with 13 laps to go. With just two tires compared to four on most of the cars behind him, Blaney dropped back to fourth by the time the checkers flew, giving him his eighth top-five finish in 12 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts in 2014.

· Blaney led on two occasions for a total of 14 laps.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

RYAN BLANEY, NO. 12 WESTERN STAR TRUCKS FORD

EARLY IN THE RACE, IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE STRUGGLING WITH THE CAR.  WHAT WAS WRONG?

“We fought the same thing for most of the race that we fought in qualifying – the car was just super, super tight. I felt like no matter where I tried to drive, I just couldn’t do anything. I had no drive off of the corner. We were just plowing. Somehow, we were still passing cars. Greg (Erwin) made a lot of changes to the car, raising the track bar and putting in wedge and making some big swings with air pressure. Just didn’t seem like anything helped. Finally, we got it to the point it was drivable. But it was just a tight condition that we couldn’t shake.”

IT LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD A SHOT TO WIN LATE.  HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO BOUNCE BACK?

“All the adjustments finally started to pay off.  The Western Star Ford was still tight, but when we got clean air, we were definitely better. All the adjustments worked and we got ourselves track position late. We were able to get the lead and even extend it. For the first five or six laps, the car was really good, even on two tires.  But eventually, the guys on four tires were able to catch us and pass us. Overall, it was a good night for the Western Star Ford.  We were out here to pretty much win the race. But to come home with a top-five after what we went through was pretty impressive. I’ve got to thank my guys. They worked their butt off during the race and never gave up, and we were able to come out of here with a really good finish.”