DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series holds its final practice on Saturday, Ryan Blaney and No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford won’t be taking part.
Blaney, who finished third in Thursday night’s first Can-Am Duel, shook down his car on Friday after his team changed to the Daytona 500 engine. The No. 21 won’t see any more action on the track until the green flag drops for the Great American Race.
“Everyone swaps over to their race engines today pretty much,” said Blaney, who was sixth fastest overall and quickest in the Ford camp during Friday’s second practice session. “That’s what we did, so we wanted to go out there for 10 laps just to make sure there were no leaks and everything runs smoothly.
“We got enough data for the engine guys to look at and make sure everything is OK, so that was just a test run on our race motor. We’re not going to run (on Saturday), so all we have to do now is get ready and make sure everything is ready to go for the 500.”
With his third-place finish in the Duel—where he rallied from one lap down—Blaney earned the fifth starting spot in Sunday’s race.
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.
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