Second Straight Podium Has Blaney Eyeing Victory Lane

Ryan Blaney (Wyatt Tinsley/Race Face Digital photo)

KANSAS CITY, Kan.  – Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Würth Ford Mustang team kept their momentum rolling Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway, scoring a hard-fought third-place finish after showing strength all race long.

Blaney, who qualified 10th, showed he had one of the best cars on the long run. The third-generation driver powered his way into the top five by the end of stage one, finishing fourth, and then added a third-place finish in stage two.

“The car was really solid all day,” Blaney said. “We just needed a little better track position earlier to really challenge for the win, but we kept getting better as the race went on.”

The No. 12 team executed on pit road, gaining two spots after a caution at lap 192. Blaney restarted from the second row with 67 laps to go and quickly found himself contending near the front.

Several back-to-back cautions bunched the field up, but once the race finally settled back into a groove with 49 laps remaining, Blaney's long-run speed showed.

Within the final few circuits, he closed in and cut a nearly three-second deficit to the leaders down to under two seconds. Although Blaney came up just short of the win, his third-place finish tied his career-best result at Kansas and marked his fourth top five in the last five races.

“We were running those guys down quickly there at the end,” Blaney added. “Just had to make up too much ground after those restarts. I am really proud of everybody on this [No.] 12 team. They have been bringing fast cars every week. … Just a great effort all around.”

With Sunday’s result, Blaney maintained his position inside the top 10 in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings. He sits ninth after 12 of 26 regular season races, but holds a comfortable 60-point edge over the provisional playoff cut line.

Looking ahead, Blaney and his team are focused on building off his recent strong runs and finding victory lane soon. He’s the lone Team Penske driver who has yet to win this season.

“We’ve had good speed the last few weeks. Now it’s just about putting everything together and going to win some races,” he said.

The Cup Series field takes a one-week break from points racing for the annual $1 million-to-win NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. Blaney won the 2022 event when it was held at Texas Motor Speedway.

Broadcast coverage of the 41st renewal of NASCAR’s All-Star night is slated for Sunday night, May 18 at 8 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.