Blaney Goes From Last To Second In Bowman Gray Clash

Ryan Blaney (12) races Chase Elliott during the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. (HHP/Jacy Norgaard photo)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Charging from the rear of the field to finish runner-up, Ryan Blaney patiently pieced together an impressive rally Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series’ return to Bowman Gray Stadium for the first time since 1971.

In typical ‘YRB’ fashion, the 2023 Cup Series champion kept it clean on track during the Cook Out Clash and refused to be baited into a bumper-car battle with winner Chase Elliott at the flat, quarter-mile oval nicknamed “The Madhouse”.

Suffice it to say, the weekend didn’t start well, but gradually improved.

Second-place is hardly ever worth bragging about – especially when it came to last season’s Championship Race – but it provided a fallback for Blaney, who was awarded the points provisional into the 200-lap main event after Joey Logano raced his way into the Clash, while Blaney ran into trouble late and spun in his respective qualifying heat.

On top of starting last in the 23-car field, the No. 12 team was forced to replace the radiator on their Ford Mustang Dark Horse before the Last Chance Qualifier, due to a puncture to the water cooler.

In an effort to preserve his car, Blaney lagged back and logged laps in the 75-lap LCQ to gather important data for the feature.

At a track notorious for setting up passes strictly via the bump-and-run, Blaney bided his time and worked himself all the way up to 10th place at the lap-100 halftime break by letting his competitors get physical, while crew chief Jonathan Hassler and spotter Tim Fedewa methodically managed his progress toward the front of the field.

In the second half of the exhibition, Blaney broke into the top five with haste and caught the rear bumper of the No. 9 not too long after.

Ultimately, both cars were too evenly matched and Blaney opted not to rough up Elliott for the win, content with being a bridesmaid to one of his best buddies in a non-points-paying event.

“I had a blast,” Blaney said. “I was saying last year we came from last to third, this year last to second. Got to not start last and have a shot to win one of these things. Being able to get to second, then race hard with Chase (Elliott) there, [it came down to] who was going to save more tire. I just didn't quite have enough right-rear at the end to make a move on him.

“I think he just had better drive off than me that whole last run. I turned better and he had better drive off, so it was kind of a trade off, I feel like,” Blaney continued. “Honestly, I felt like our cars were kind of evenly matched. My car was better in one area and his car was better in another, but I felt like if you just swapped our two cars, I don’t think we would have passed each other.

“I was not going to make that pass and wasn’t going to just bulldog into him and get chased out of here with pitchforks, so when it was time to go I just didn’t quite have enough.”

Going back to last season, Blaney has now ripped off four consecutive top-four finishes, and although the Clash doesn’t mean anything in terms of the standings, a runner-up finish and the manner in which it was achieved marks an excellent unofficial start to his 10th full-time campaign in the Cup Series.

With momentum on his side, Blaney sets his sights on his first Daytona 500 victory, and will likely open as the odds-on favorite with one win already at the World Center of Racing, as well as three other checkered flags at drafting tracks in his Cup Series career.

The 67th running of the Great American Race airs on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.