DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With 11 laps left in Sunday’s Daytona 500, Ryan Blaney appeared a likely winner. He was leading a single-file line of cars around the top lane of Daytona International Speedway when the race changed dramatically.
William Byron spun off Turn 4 with a flat tire on Lap 190, causing a caution that bunched the field for a double-file restart on Lap 194. Blaney lost the lead, regained it, lost it again and ultimately sustained damaged during a 13-car melee on Lap 199, when his No. 12 Team Penske Ford turned Kurt Busch’s No. 41.
“It was just hard racing,” said Blaney, who led 118 of 207 laps but had to settle for seventh at the finish. “You say it all day. I was trying to be aggressive blocking the lead and kind of fell back and got a good run back up towards it. Man, the 11 (Denny Hamlin) blocked the 41 (Busch), and the 41 kind of went high last minute, and I was on his left rear and I turned him.
“I feel bad about that. He kind of changed lanes last-minute, and I couldn’t react quick enough. It stinks. We led a lot of laps. It just wasn’t meant to be. But it was a good showing. Hopefully we go into Atlanta and have a decent run.”
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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