Ryan Blaney may be second in the driver’s championship, but there is an alarming setback that he is facing, for no fault of his own. Blaney’s pit crew ranks 35th on the grid currently. It is literally the second-worst pit crew among the drivers eligible for the title. However, Team Penske is not too concerned about the same.

Team Penske VP downplays personnel issue rumors

It is clear to nearly every fan that Blaney’s pit crew has been holding him back this year on multiple occasions. His first victory of the year is considered a miracle, especially due to the pit road debacles he faced during the race at Phoenix. Martinsville has been their only clear race so far.

In spite of all this, Travis Geisler, who is Team Penske’s VP of Competition, is pretty calm about the No. 12 crew. “I think it’s just an evolution of how we are trying to handle all the stuff here. That group is doing a really good job for us in general; always continue to tweak things and try to make things better. 

“And I think this ran on a spot where they got bit by something a couple of times and just need to be able to take a step back and look at all the pieces involved and try to decide how to move forward.”

Not only that, in his eyes, there is no outstanding issue with the personnel involved. “I think the personnel that we have involved over there are awesome. I mean, that group is lights-out when they are on. 

“I think there are things we need to do better from the team side of things to make their jobs a little easier. Obviously, some things they need to work on too, so, yeah, that pit road dance, you kind of highlight some things like that.”

While trying to compare his crew with others, Geisler thinks that nearly every time they are facing an issue on pit road, it’s getting highlighted because they were running in contention and lost a bunch of positions. Due to the significance of these mistakes, Blaney’s pit crew is being portrayed in a bad light.

He also tried to argue about the entire situation. Geisler believes that in a high-pressure and fast-paced environment like NASCAR, some things are just bound to happen. The pit crew is already working under a lot of pressure, and if they fumble, it is not because they are not good at their job; it is because they just had to deliver under pressure and their footing slipped slightly.

In the end, Geisler and Team Penske are already trying to move forward from their past mistakes by using Martinsville as their reference point. “We are working hard and happy that we got through—I think we got through Martinsville, still not where we want to be, but it’s one step in the right direction, and that’s how you get going. You put the first block down the foundation, and let’s start building on that. 

“I think it would be very different if we were concerned about who we have and personnel situations. It’s not there right now, which is nice; we are just working on details and some of the technical stuff. That’s what we do every week.”

But what are Ryan Blaney’s feelings about the same? After all, the No. 12 driver has been the one who is suffering most due to these mistakes.

Ryan Blaney stays supportive of his pit crew

For a driver who has found himself dropping down the order multiple times due to his pit crew, Ryan Blaney has been acting rather mature and calm. He was only slightly annoyed at the crew even when he was at the brink of losing at Phoenix. Similarly, in his interviews, Blaney is keeping a defensive stance about his crew.

For now, it seems like the weakest link in Ryan Blaney’s pit crew is Landon Honeycutt. However, instead of letting him take the blame, Blaney was more interested in giving him space to improve.

“I’m not going to call out Landon,” Blaney said. “I think there’ve been some other things that have contributed to maybe it looking like he’s struggled a little bit. He is green, and he is a little new, so there are some things he’s got to clean up.

“I do think from an equipment and choreography side, that can improve too. Landon is still with us this weekend, and we’re going to let him keep growing and learning, and hopefully, from a personnel and equipment standpoint, we can kind of clean that up and find better ways to do things.”

It is important to make a note of the fact that the pit crew is like the driver’s only family on the track. There is no option for them but to rely on each other throughout the race weekend. At the end of the day, mistrust and blame only create more trouble. Maybe the unwavering confidence that Blaney displays is the reason why they were able to improve at Martinsville.