Veterans compliment rookie's driving; he finishes fourth
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TALLADEGA, Ala. -- The only mark on Ryan Blaney's red-and-white No. 21 Motorcraft Ford when he pulled onto pit road following Sunday's wild and wooly GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was a short, slight black streak on the left rear bumper -- directly on top of the yellow stripe signaling his rookie status.
His legendary team owner Len Wood was nearly as impressed with the mint-condition car as he was with the 21-year-old's outstanding fourth-place performance Sunday, Blaney's best showing in six career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, and the first top-five for the Woods Brothers team in four years.
Blaney's father, legendary sprint car driver Dave Blaney, was among the first to greet him, grinning ear-to-ear at his son's daylong superspeedway education and the A-plus he received for the work.
"He was getting treated as a rookie as you do, and didn't get much help, but he always stayed calm and if he went to the back, recovered and hung on,'' Dave Blaney said. "He's a smart young guy. I felt incredibly helpless standing there (watching the final laps) but just enjoying it at the same time. He did such a good job."
And as great as the pit road reception was for Blaney, the best part of his day came a few minutes later in the post-race news conference when he took his well-deserved seat next to Sunday's runner-up -- six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson -- and the two chatted about the afternoon.
"I'm talking to my hero here,'' Blaney told the moderator as the press conference was about to begin. Johnson smiled and seemed to enjoy the time alongside one of NASCAR's next-generation stars.
In fact, Blaney's mature driving Sunday won over several of the veterans and he received Twitter pats on the back from many, including reigning Sprint Cup champion crew chief Rodney Childers, who posted the message, "Good job young man."
Blaney qualified third -- just behind Hendrick powerhouse teammates Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne -- and ran among the top 10 for much of the day. Even when getting shuffled out of line -- a rookie rite of passage -- he stayed calm and carefully negotiated his way back up front.
He was third in a single file line behind race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson for most of the final 20 laps.
"We had a good car all day,'' Blaney said. "I learned a little bit throughout the race to kind of know what to do to get back to the front. We really were kind of lucky to be in that position toward the end of the race and I think we made a couple good moves about three-quarters of the way through and guys started to go with us a little bit more and luckily the moves that we were making worked out to where guys trust you a little bit more. "
That was certainly the case with Denny Hamlin, who rode behind Blaney in the final laps only to get shuffled back to ninth on the last lap. He was impressed with the rookie and even willing to have gone with him for the win if the circumstances had worked out.
"He had a shot to win and I was willing to go with him if he made a move with one to go, but we were running out of time and I had the Ford (of Sam Hornish Jr.) right behind me, so I needed to go,'' Hamlin said. "I thought (Blaney) did a great job, though. He holds a steady wheel and doesn't make many mistakes. He's a kid you can run around and trust."
Blaney's next Cup race is the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and he'll be in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona to give the restrictor plate racing another whirl.
"I know you have to go through the rookie deal,'' Blaney said smiling, "but hopefully this finish helps us for the next (restrictor-plate race) at Daytona."