Ryan Blaney found early trouble in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice, slamming into the Turn 1 retaining wall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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Blaney had completed one lap in the 20-minute practice session, but a flat tire caused his No. 12 Team Penske Ford to spin and make an impact with the outside wall.
“I had no warning,” Blaney told his No. 12 crew through his in-car communications, comments that he reiterated after he was treated and released at the infield care center.
“I didn’t really feel anything odd or out of the normal, out of the ordinary,” Blaney said. “I figured, you know, a couple laps, the (air) pressures come up and you’ll be fine. Yeah, I didn’t feel anything down the front (straightaway) the lap that it blew into (turn) one, so it kind of caught me by surprise. But yeah, I didn’t feel anything like super out of place to make me think that it was going to be flat into one. So that’s one of those things that stinks and catches you off guard. No indication, just the worst part of the corner.”
Blaney, the defending Cup Series champion, will start Sunday’s South Point 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) from the rear of the field and faces a four-point deficit to the elimination line in the Cup Series Playoffs.
“It’ll be a big challenge for multiple reasons,” Blaney said, “but I feel confident hopefully we can make our way through there and we’ve got all race. Might not be able to get stage points in the first one, but hopefully by the second one, maybe we’ll get some stage points, and then hopefully the speed’s good enough to where we could run up toward the front. So yeah, it sets us back a little bit, but this group is ready to go, and they know the new task, and that’s going to be a tall one tomorrow, but I’ve got faith we can make the most of it.”
Sunday’s 400-miler opens the three-race Round of 8 that will determine the final four drivers who will battle for the championship in the Nov. 10 finale at Phoenix Raceway.