Ford’s Martinsville Eye-Sore, Ryan Blaney Drops a 4-Word Verdict on the Disappointing ‘Half Mile of Mayhem’ Failure

Published 04/07/2024, 11:23 PM EDT

Ford drivers are finally catching up in the Cup Series after the first part of the season was dominated by the other two OEMs. They are yet to win a race, but this time at Martinsville Speedway‘s Cook Out 400, Ford saw more drivers in the Top 10. Defending champion Ryan Blaney is yet again their best driver, finishing P5, followed by Joey Logano at P6. Other drivers to join the list are Ryan Preece, who finished P9, and Chase Briscoe (P10).

Despite yet another Top 5 finish, Team Penske‘s No. 12 Ryan Blaney appeared to be disappointed in the post-race interview. What made him disappointed? Is it the early pit stop?

Ryan Blaney is not so satisfied with his P5 finish and thinks he was not very good

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After the race, Ryan Blaney shared his views in an interview with ‘Defined Fate’. The interviewer asked, How does it feel to come home with a P5 finish today. Certainly after that extra pit stop early on. Notably, Blaney battled to recover from that point on and really seemed to get the car good at the end.

Blaney said, “Yeah, we got good at the end. Yeah, it’s uphill battle for sure you know just having to come back down pit road restarting the back. Nobody can pass anybody and Jonathan made a good call to put two on it. Started the third stage and kind of established ourselves a little bit back in the Top 10. And I was able to work on our car again. I knew it was an uphill battle and really the first round of the race I wasn’t very good.”

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“I kind of lost some spots and was really free so we tightened up. And then we had to come back down pit road and then I started last. So, now I am double tight because you’re getting you’re tighter in the pack. And then we already adjusted we think it for going to be for clean air. So, just took us a while to kind of battle back and just proud of them sticking with it you know getting creative. Putting two on it with a lot of laps on our left and having faith that we could kind of hang on. And we did and yeah just #12 team does that really well,” he added.

Despite not having the desired first half of the race and missing out on stage points, Ryan Blaney felt proud of their team’s comeback. He also lauded the efforts of the Advanced Auto Parts Ford Mustang team.

A surprising turn of events at the ‘Half Mile of Mayhem’

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Ryan Blaney expressed satisfaction with the car’s performance once they had some clean air at the Virginia-based track. He acknowledged the vehicle’s potential and talked about making the necessary modifications. He recounted that after the green flag stop, he was quite fast, surprisingly passing several others. The 30-year-old managed to maintain his position well until reaching the 11th spot, where his progress stalled.

Meanwhile, the opportunity was well-received by HMS drivers, as they dashed to occupy an all-HMS Top 3. William Byron won his third Cup Series race this season, followed by Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in second and third. On the other hand, unlike last week, the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers failed to perform today after having a series of top-class races. Denny Hamlin, finishing P11, secured the best rank among them.

With a sense of accomplishment, Blaney is eager to proceed to Texas with his team. It would be interesting to see what awaits him there.

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Written by:

Mamata Mukherjee is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. Combining her love for writing and motorsports she has created some interesting and in-depth stories on drivers like Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Joining ES with 3 years of experience in the field of writing, Mamata feels right at home in her role as a NASCAR Journalist.

Edited by:

Shivali Nathta

Ford’s Martinsville Eye-Sore, Ryan Blaney Drops a 4-Word Verdict on the Disappointing ‘Half Mile of Mayhem’ Failure

Ryan Blaney is not so satisfied with his P5 finish and thinks he was not very good

A surprising turn of events at the ‘Half Mile of Mayhem’

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