Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quck Lane Racing team overcame a pit road speeding penalty and avoided late-race accidents to post a strong 11th-place finish in the New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this afternoon.
Blaney, crew chief Jeremy Bullins and Wood Brothers racing worked hard during their first two pit stops to fix handling problems that the driver said on his radio were causing “struggles everywhere.” The adjustments were successful and the iconic No. 21 Ford Fusion advanced from its 14th starting position to 10th when a pit road speeding penalty sent it back to 25th and a lap down.
“I am disappointed in myself,” Blaney said. “We had a really good Fusion there about halfway through the race and I sped on pit road during our green-flag stop and that set us back a lot.”
Blaney was in 22nd, still a lap down, when a lap-125 caution enabled him to take a wave around and get back on the lead lap. From there he quickly advanced forward getting as high as 10th with six laps remaining before dropping a position with three laps to go to finish 11th.
“Luckily we were able to get a wave-around and it worked out,” he continued. “We just kept missing wrecks and got lucky on that caution at the end to salvage a decent day. I messed up for two weeks in a row and that is unacceptable. I have to clean up my act for upcoming races.”
The 11th-place finish moves Blaney to 18th in the driver points standings, 16 points from the final spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He entered the race 24 points out of 16th place.
The team now heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Veteran Coalition 400 at the Brickyard. At Indianapolis. The No. 21 will be clad in its Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center livery promoting the sponsor’s Trading One Uniform for Another scholarship program for returning veterans who want to train as automotive technicians. The race starts at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, July 24.
