To Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney, Friday’s practice at Talladega was both productive and enjoyable, as drivers acclimated to the characteristics of the new superspeedway competition package.
The immediate first impression was that the closing rate was substantially faster than it had been in recent years. That could present a problem on Sunday when a race leader attempts to block runs from competing lanes.
“You get bigger runs on people, way bigger than last year, way bigger than Daytona this year” Blaney said. “There’s really no more of that air bubble. It’s very small. But you can get huge runs on people. As the leader, we played around a little bit with it in our drafting practice.
“It doesn’t have that beachball effect to where it stalls them out or pushes you away. They just keep coming at you because they’re picking up so much mile-an-hour. You’re going to see some blocks that people would make before this race… and they’re not going to work out, and they might end badly.
“But that’s what we practice for. But it’ll be tougher to make a block—that’s for sure.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" 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, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
