As Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sat on the Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway frontstretch in a painful stall only yards before the checkered flag on Sunday afternoon, it was a vivid and frustrating microcosm of the former NASCAR Cup Series champion’s day and season. So good. So close.
Perhaps nowhere in North America, and maybe the world, were two people more disappointed than Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney were Sunday evening.
Last year’s Coca-Cola 600 winner saw his hopes for repeat come to an end early Sunday night.
It appears Ryan Blaney will be carrying a grudge in the coming weeks.
Chase Elliott is a two-time Talladega race winner and has always been strong on the big tracks.
Ryan Blaney’s top five finish Sunday at Martinsville was far from a walk in the park.
The vagaries of the concrete surface at Bristol Motor Speedway shocked the NASCAR Cup Series drivers during Saturday’s time trials, but Ryan Blaney was best able to deal with the changes between rounds.
For the second consecutive race Team Penske seemed to be the class of the field for a time Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
For a time in Monday’s rescheduled Daytona 500, Joey Logano looked to be his way to becoming the first driver since 2000 to win the Great American Race from pole.
After slamming into the outside wall approaching Turn 1 at Daytona International Speedway in Thursday night’s second Bluegreen Vacations Duel 150-mile qualifying race, Ryan Blaney was irate.