News

Track:  Iowa Speedway
Race:   3M 250
Date:   May 17, 2015
  
No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney
Start:  13th
Finish: 5th
Status: Running
Laps Completed:  259/259
Laps Led:   1
Owners' Points Position:  1st (+64)
 
Recap:  Ryan Blaney, making just his second start in the NASCAR XFINITY Series this season, ran near the front all afternoon long and used a four-tire stop at the finish to grab a fifth-place finish on Sunday afternoon at Iowa Speedway.  After starting his No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang from the 13th position, the race saw two cautions within the first 12 laps and Blaney radioed to his Discount Tire team that his Ford Mustang was free and lacking rear grip. Once the 3M 250 restarted Blaney found his groove and begin running the fastest laps on track. He raced his Mustang up to the fourth position while still fighting a loose racecar. On lap 59, NASCAR called a competition caution where crew chief Greg Erwin called the No. 22 Mustang down pit road for several adjustments. Blaney would restart from the fourth position. While fighting for the fourth position, the No. 20 of Erik Jones became loose on the inside of Blaney, forcing him up the track. Blaney fell to the sixth position before logging laps before another caution fell on lap 142. On the restart Blaney made the top line stick and found himself fighting for the lead the next time the cars crossed the finish line.  After a fierce battle, Blaney settled into the second position.  The caution flew for the last time on lap 249, setting up a green-white-checker finish. The 22 team elected to pit for four fresh tires and Blaney would restart the two-lap sprint in the eighth position. Unfortunately, the top lane stalled out and Blaney found himself in the fifth position as the checkers flew. The top-five finish was Blaney's second this season and the teams ninth top-five finish. The finish propelled the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford to a 64-point lead in the XFINITY Series Owners' point standings.
 
Quote: "First off, congrats to Chris (Buescher) on his win, happy for him. Today we just made the best of what we had. Our Discount Tire Ford Mustang was extremely loose and lacked rear grip throughout the entire race. It was hard to get a good run in the corners where other cars would make up ground. Once the last caution came out to set up the green white checker, we knew we had to pit or we would have been a sitting duck. We put on four fresh Goodyear's and restated on the top. That lane was good on restarts all day but stalled on that last restart and we were able to make our way back up to fifth. I am so proud of this Discount Tire team and their will. Not once did they give up and continued to make adjustments to get the car better. We have the next few races together and we will work on it and continue to get better. Really looking forward to getting back into the driver's seat of this Mustang at Charlotte."