No. 12 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney
Start: 27th
Stage 1: 14th
Stage 2: 5th
Finish: 5th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 130/130
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings (ahead of second): 9th (-181)
Sunday Starting Position: 16th
Notes:
Ryan Blaney rallied from a 27th-place starting position to finish fifth Saturday afternoon at Pocono Raceway. With the field set by the qualifying metric, the driver of the No. 12 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang was forced to work hard to gain track position in the opening stage but scored points Stage 2 then grabbed his third top-five of the 2021 season. The team will start tomorrow’s race from the 16th position, in the Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang.
After starting deep in the field and battling dirty air, Blaney pitted during the first caution on lap 10 for two tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment. Despite the stop Blaney was still able to rally forward to claim a 14th-place result when Stage 1 ended on lap 25. Blaney said his Menards/Richmond Ford was decent and crew chief Todd Gordon made the call to keep his driver on the track during the stage caution.
Blaney would hit pit road again on lap 53 for tires and fuel, putting the team in a window to make it to the end of the race on one more stop. He continued to work forward in the running order, racing inside the top-10. A caution on lap 73 set up a two-lap dash to finish Stage 2. Blaney restarted inside the top-five and was credited with a fifth-place finish when the stage ended on lap 77.
The No. 12 Menards team pitted as scheduled on lap 91. Gordon made the call for four tires and fuel plus a slight air pressure change to help the driver with rear handling for the run to the finish. Blaney had a great restart on lap 111 that put him in position to claim his top-five, which he did 19 laps later.
Quote: “Starting a long way back was challenging and trying to get on some certain strategies that might help us out. I thought our strategy was really good. We were really fast for that last caution. I got really tight after that. We needed a good day in our Menards Ford Mustang after last week for sure. This is definitely something to learn about for tomorrow and make some changes and hopefully have a really good run.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
