Can Ryan Blaney get back on track in Nashville after 5 failed-to-finish NASCAR races?
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion hopes to leave all the bad that has happened to the No. 12, Ford Penske Team in his dust on June 1 in the fifth annual Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway (6:30 p.m. CT, Amazon Prime Video) where Blaney has run well at times and not so well other times.
Advertisement
Because of various issues Blaney has failed to finish five of 13 races this season. Three of those races ― Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami ― were run consecutively and the latest came last week at Charlotte when on Lap 245 Daniel Suarez spun into Blaney, forcing Blaney to hit the wall.
HOW TO BUY CRACKER BARREL 400 TICKETS
"When we have run all the races we've been really good, it's just a matter of trying to get some stuff going our way," Blaney said. "Hopefully, we're getting it all out of the way early. That's what I'm trying to tell myself. I don't feel panicked or down about anything. We're just trying to get it smoothed out."
It's difficult to say if Nashville Superspeedway is a track where Blaney can count on doing well. The only pattern he's shown on the 1.33-mile concrete oval is that he runs really well one year and really poorly the next.
Advertisement
In 2021 he pitted with damage to his car before the green flag then hit the wall on turn 2 during the race after experiencing brake trouble and finished 37th. In 2022 Blaney finished third after leading during the second stage. In 2023 Blaney did not finish after losing control and hitting the inside wall on Lap 146 and in 2024 he was sixth after leading 26 laps.
CRACKER BARREL 400 WEATHER FORECAST: NASCAR Nashville race weather forecast for Cracker Barrel 400 weekend
JOSH BERRY DEALING WITH FAME: How Josh Berry's popularity has risen in second NASCAR Cup season
"Two years ago I hit that inside wall real hard, the biggest hit of my life," Blaney said. "But I like this place. I enjoy coming here for multiple reasons. I think the track is great. The area is obviously really, really nice and we get a great turnout for the race. Hopefully, we can get a chance to get a guitar trophy. The trophy is pretty neat."
Advertisement
It has been a multitude of problems that have plagued Blaney's team this season and overshadowed his third place finishes at Texas and Kanas along with four other top 10s.
"At least we're not having one issue happen over and over," Blaney said. "Whether it's motors or wrecks, it seems like it's something different every time. I've always just tried to look at it like, 'How are we doing as a 12 team as a whole? Are we doing everything we need to do well? Are we communicating well, are we operating well?' That's been really good, so I've been happy with that. Some of that other stuff, you can't really do much about so there's no use in getting too frustrated about it."
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ryan Blaney hopes to get back on track NASCAR in Nashville race
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
SEC's longest-tenured coach, Mark Stoops back to rebuilding at Kentucky
Mark Stoops faces his biggest challenge at Kentucky going into his 13th season as the longest-tenured coach in the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats are coming off a 4-8 record that is their worst since going 2-10 in Stoops' debut season in 2013. Stoops also lost associate head coach Vince Marrow, who had been with him since he came to Kentucky, to in-state rival Louisville in June. Stoops believes he's looked at what went wrong to fix everything. 'We didn't want to just move past it,' Stoops said. 'We had to look at everything, turn over every stone and make sure that we were doing things to the best of our ability. I feel like we've done that.' Stoops has nine starters back. He also went into the transfer portal for 26 more along with 11 incoming freshmen. Stoops' future The coach should be secure at Kentucky with the extension he got in November 2022 enough to keep him around. Stoops hasn't had back-to-back losing seasons since his first three at Kentucky, and he would be due about $37.5 million within two months if officials wanted to make a coaching change. Stoops also likes what Kentucky has done investing in football. He said it feels the Wildcats are on the same playing field as other programs with funding and support for the first time in his tenure. Painful loss Marrow is considered one of the top recruiters in college football. When he left Kentucky, he was Stoops' associate head coach since 2019 and also the recruiting coordinator and NFL liaison. Louisville made him executive director of player personnel and recruiting. When Louisville announced the hiring, Marrow said his ultimate goal is winning a national championship. That's a tough path for Kentucky in the 16-team SEC. New QB Brock Vandagriff retired from football after last season, and Cutter Boley is back after appearing in four games with one start last season. That leaves a big starting job open. Stoops brought in Zach Calzada who led the Football Championship Series with 35 touchdown passes and 3,791 yards passing at Incarnate Word last season. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Calada is 23-9 as a starter, spending 2022 at AUburn and starting his career at Texas A&M. Whoever wins the job will be helped by having three starters back on the offensive line, though Kentucky needs a new starting center and left tackle. The schedule The Wildcats open with Toledo on Aug. 30 followed by two more home games, including No. 21 Mississippi on Sept. 6. The slate gets tough with a trip to No. 13 South Carolina on Sept. 27 and No. 5 Georgia on Oct. 4. Another open date offers a break before hosting top-ranked Texas on Oct. 18 followed by No. 24 Tennessee and Florida is the final SEC home game Nov. 8. Kentucky goes to Auburn on Nov. 1 and Vanderbilt on Nov. 22 before the regular season finale Nov. 29 at Louisville.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Texas QB Manning says NFL plans not taking shape yet despite grandpa's prediction of 2026 in Austin
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — There's so much speculation about Texas quarterback Arch Manning's future, in the media and even within his own family, that it can be hard for him to keep up. On Tuesday, Manning insisted he's not plotting out how long he'll stay at Texas or when he'll enter the NFL draft, despite his grandfather's recent prediction to Texas Monthly magazine that he'll be with the Longhorns through the 2026 season. 'I don't know where he got that from,' Arch Manning said in his first meeting with reporters since SEC media days in mid-July. 'He texted me to apologize about that. I'm really just taking it day by day right now.' Arch Manning has been careful while talking about his future as he leads the No. 1 Longhorns as the full-time starter after playing behind Quinn Ewers the past two seasons. Manning enters this season as the early favorite for the Heisman Trophy, has endorsement deals worth millions and comes from the most famous quarterbacking family in football. Grandfather Archie played in the NFL and uncles Peyton and Eli combined for four Super Bowl victories. Add that together and Arch Manning is shouldering the biggest spotlight of any player in the country. Texas opens the season Aug. 30 at No. 3 Ohio State after losing to the Buckeyes in the national playoff semifinals last season. Manning is also very close to his grandfather, despite any confusion about whether he's destined for one or two seasons as the Texas starter before heading to the NFL. Manning noted Tuesday how Archie is always giving him advice on how to avoid taking big hits to prolong his career. 'Those hits add up,' Arch Manning said. 'My grandfather, he's hobbling around these days. He ends every call with 'get down or get out of bounds.'' ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: and
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Willi Castro's three-run homer (11)
Willi Castro hits a three-run home run to right-center field to extend the Cubs' lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the 3rd inning
