Ryan Blaney should have been strutting into Kansas Speedway like a man who’d just won the lottery. He already punched his ticket into the Round of 8 with that clinical win at New Hampshire, which means the next two weeks should be nothing more than a casual Sunday drive with a slushie in the cupholder.
Instead, four laps into practice Saturday, his day turned into a B-movie crash reel. The No. 12 Team Penske Ford cut a tire, slammed the wall at Turn 2, and Blaney’s weekend plan went from “relax and enjoy” to “back-up car, rear of the field, pray for miracles.”
“We blew a tire, so we’ll have to look at it and see why that was,” Blaney said, sounding like a man trying to stay calm while someone else just reversed a semi into his driveway. “I hate that we crashed a race car and stuff like that, but we’ll take a peek at what we need to do differently and hopefully come from the back tomorrow. I’m looking forward to getting the race going tomorrow.”
If you’re wondering whether there was any warning—nope. “I wouldn’t say I really had any feel of something kind of off until right before it went, honestly. They don’t feel way off and then they just kind of give out the next moment… I hate that we’ve got to get a backup out and do all that deal, but we’ll fight through it.”
While Blaney was sweeping up the mess, Joey Logano nearly joined him on the casualty list. The defending champ felt his Ford get twitchy in Turns 3 and 4, and rather than playing chicken with a concrete wall, he wisely backed off.
“I just felt it starting to feel funky through three and four,” Logano explained. “I took it a little safe than sorry and lifted off in the corner, which is when it really came apart. I’m glad I caught it there. I got a little lucky… We’ll put four tires on it, make some adjustments, cross our fingers and hope she runs good.”
Translation: same problem, but this time the wall didn’t win.
And what about the third Penske driver, Austin Cindric? He decided discretion was the better part of valor. Instead of tempting fate, Cindric parked it and lived to fight another day—a smart call given he’s 19 points under the cut line.
“Bit of a concerning session in a lot of ways as a team, but this place is pretty crazy for that,” Cindric admitted. Which is a polite way of saying: “Kansas, you’re terrifying, and I’d rather not test whether the garage has enough duct tape to fix another wrecked Mustang.”
So what’s the outlook for Blaney now that he’s got his golden ticket to the next round? He insists there’s no let-up.
“I said last week after New Hampshire that it doesn’t change our outlook the next two weeks that we won at New Hampshire,” Blaney said. “I’m a big believer in keeping your head down and keeping the momentum that you have. You don’t want to go kick your feet up for two weeks just because you’re in the next round. You have to stay in that competitive mode and go run hard every single week.”
Which is admirable. But right now, Blaney’s “momentum” involves hauling a backup car to the starting grid and hoping his next tire isn’t made of paper mache.
Trouble for @Blaney in practice! pic.twitter.com/jFVdKRBmkl
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 27, 2025
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
- Brandon Jones Turns Kansas Speedway Into His Personal Playground - September 27, 2025
- Blaney Wrecks, Logano Wobbles, and Penske Sweats Out Kansas Practice - September 27, 2025
- From Momentum to Mayhem, JGR Implodes at the Magic Mile - September 21, 2025