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.