Truck Series driver has no problem switching seats
Ryan Blaney has made a habit of deftly bouncing from ride to ride in all three NASCAR national series this season. The cross-training has not only given the 20-year-old plenty of time behind the wheel, it’s made him a more versatile driver as he takes the next step in his racing career.
Blaney, fresh from a third-place finish last weekend in the NASCAR Nationwide Series behind Sprint Cup regulars Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick at Kansas Speedway, has much more criss-crossing on tap for the closing stages of 2014. He’ll return to his full-time gig driving in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Oct. 18 at Talladega Superspeedway, where he’ll also attempt to make his second career Sprint Cup start the following day.
But first things first: Blaney has another start scheduled on the Nationwide side for Team Penske at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend.
“I’m really excited for Charlotte,” Blaney said last weekend in Kansas. “I’ve got Greg Erwin crew-chiefing me, and I think we’re pretty close to how we were at Kentucky, and we had a pretty good run there with Greg. I really like Charlotte and it’s always been a fun race track for me. Looking forward to running three out of the last four Nationwide events.”
Blaney has two Nationwide races remaining (Charlotte, Texas) in the Erwin-led No. 12 Penske Ford and one left (Phoenix) with Jeremy Bullins atop the pit box for the No. 22 Mustang. Bullins, who oversaw Blaney’s Sprint Cup debut in May at Kansas, will again be calling the shots for the youngster’s return at Talladega.
While Blaney’s Nationwide car number will vary the next three weeks, the team’s preparation won’t change.
“The races this year that we’ve run the 12 (Nationwide) program, we’re trying to mirror what we’re doing with the 22, so we’ll be in constant contact with them and make sure that’s as good an effort as it can be,” Bullins said. “Then we’re all excited to go with him to Talladega here in a couple weeks; that’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Blaney will embark on heavier Sprint Cup duty next season running a part-time schedule in the Wood Brothers’ famed No. 21 Ford team, which will share a technical alliance with Team Penske beginning in 2015. He plans to continue driving duties for Penske in Nationwide competition, where he’s recorded top-10 finishes in all but one of his 11 starts this season.
While Blaney has one victory in each the Nationwide and Truck series this year, he’s been on the cusp of several more. In trucks, he also possesses two runner-up finishes and ranks third in standings this season, and has been no worse than fourth his last four times out in the Nationwide tour.
“We’ve been close,” Blaney said. “We just haven’t been able to quite get to Victory Lane these last handful of races.”
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