Blaney Charges from Last to Runner-Up Finish in Clash at Bowman Gray

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

Ryan Blaney certainly had his work cut out for him when the green flag flew on Sunday night’s Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray, starting shotgun on the field, but made for an entertaining evening as he charged his way to a runner-up finish in the exhibition race.

The weekend started off on the wrong foot for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion as he finished last in his heat race on Saturday night, pushing him into the Last Chance Qualifier on Sunday to earn his place in the main event.

Blaney only completed 23 laps in that 75-lap race that kicked off the festivities on Sunday, electing to take the provisional awarded to the driver ranked highest in last season’s points standings.

With his Team Penske teammate and defending series champion Joey Logano already locked in, Blaney’s runner-up points finish was enough to earn him his place in the 200-lap Clash.

Using his prowess on short tracks to his advantage, Blaney drove his No. 12 Ford Mustang to the top-10 by the halfway break at lap 100, setting his sights on climbing further forward over the second half of the race.

In short order, he had cracked the top-five and by lap 150 had moved into second-place, with only race leader Chase Elliott between him and the front of the field.

Though Blaney gave it his best effort, Elliott was just too strong over the final sprint to the finish as he would have to settle for second-place to give him and his team a confidence boost heading into the season-opening Daytona 500 in two weeks’ time.

“I had a blast. I was saying last year we came from last to 3rd, this year last to 2nd. Got to not start last and have a shot to win one of these things,” Blaney said.

“Yeah, that was fun. That was a blast. The car was really good, especially the first half and the second half. Being able to get to 2nd, then race hard with Chase there, who’s going to save more tire. I just didn’t quite have enough right rear at the end to make a move on him.

“I appreciate Menards and Great Lakes Flooring, Ford, Ford Performance, DEX Imaging, everybody for what they do. That’s a fun time. I hope the fans enjoyed it. That was a really good show. Happy we could come to Bowman Gray and put on a great race for everybody.

“Like I said, it’s more fun from my seat when you’re going forward. Props to the 12 boys for getting better throughout the weekend and look forward to Daytona.”

Blaney added afterwards that his car lost some grip over the course of the final run and he elected to settle for second instead of drawing the ire of Elliott fans by making an ill-conceived move on NASCAR’s most popular driver for the win.

“I think we were pretty evenly matched. When I started to go, I just didn’t have enough right rear, and I’m like ‘Oh, shit.’ I’m not going to make this pass,” Blaney said.

“And I’m not 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.”

About David Morgan 1687 Articles
David Morgan is the Associate Editor for Motorsports Tribune. A 2008 graduate from the University of Mississippi, David has followed NASCAR since the early 90’s and became hooked at an early age after attending his first race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1993. He has traveled across the country since 2012 to cover some of the most prestigious events both IndyCar and NASCAR have to offer, with an aim to only expand on that in the near future.