Ryan Blaney Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Just like in the first road course race of the season at Sonoma, the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie class had their hands full with the second road course race on Sunday at Watkins Glen. Coming out on top of the rookies at Watkins Glen was Chase Elliott, who stayed out of trouble and under the radar throughout the day. Elliott started the day in 16th and was able to hold steady just outside the top-10 in the early going before falling back toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When looking at the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie class and which of those drivers would be the first to make it to victory lane, very few gave Chris Buescher and Front Row Motorsports a chance to be the first winner with the likes of Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney in the field. However, Buescher was able to silence the doubters with an assist from Mother Nature as Monday’s Pennsylvania 400 was called 22 laps from the finish due to heavy fog that reducedRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer At the beginning of the weekend, New Hampshire Motor Speedway looked like it would be a promising race for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookies. Chase Elliott topped the final practice session after qualifying in the seventh position. Ryan Blaney qualified 14th with fellow rookies Brian Scott and Chris Buescher mired deep in the field. Scott was the first rookie to find issues as he was hit with a pass thru penalty for having too many crewmembers over the wall on lap 39. Scott wasRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer Treacherous, perilous, dangerous, precarious, and tricky: these were some of the adjectives used to describe the new-look Kentucky Speedway following Saturday night’s Quaker State 400. The Speedway, located in Sparta, midway between the large population centers of Louisville and Cincinnati, recently completed a total replacement of the 16-year old asphalt. In addition to the repave, turns one and two were reconfigured adding 3° of banking, while turn four was narrowed to allow for a wider pit lane entrance. To say that the facility has raisedRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The newly repaved and reconfigured Kentucky Speedway was rough on several drivers throughout the field, from champions on down, but for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies, the track really had it out for them on Saturday night, as four of the five rookies would run into major trouble. The rookies were holding their own in the early going, but on lap 89, the first set of rookies would suffer Kentucky’s wrath. Ryan Blaney’s car got loose in Turn 3 on lap 89, makingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Saturday night’s race at Kentucky Speedway, there were a lot of unknowns with the newly repaved and reconfigured track surface, but it didn’t take long for the track to claim its first victims. Jimmie Johnson, who had never won at Kentucky in five previous starts, had troubles with the track from the time his No. 48 team unloaded, spinning out and crashing his primary car in practice and having to break out his backup car for the race. Though Johnson would be ableRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The last time the NASCAR Xfinity Series visited Kentucky Speedway, Ryan Blaney took home the victory. Blaney was not competing full time in any NASCAR series last year. The last time a contender for the Xfinity Series Championship won at Kentucky was Brendan Gaughan in 2014. Xfinity Series Chase 15 races into the 2016 Xfinity Series Season, there have been 11 different winners, and only three of them, Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler, and Daniel Suarez are currently locked into the Xfinity Series Chase via wins.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits the restrictor plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega, there is always a chance that a driver might get caught up in a crash that ends their night prematurely and for the 2016 Sprint Cup Series rookie class, that is exactly what happened in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. Throughout the first 89 laps of the race, three of the four rookies (Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, and Chris Buescher) had made their way through the field intoRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor In the midst of celebrating his first win in three years, Tony Stewart took a moment at Sonoma Raceway to look ahead to the future once he steps out of the driver’s seat for the final time when the checkered flag flies at Homestead in November. Stewart’s departure at season’s end marks the second top tier driver to step away from the cockpit in as many years with Jeff Gordon vacating the No. 24 car at the end of 2015. With both Stewart and GordonRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After an impressive start to the season for the 2016 rookie class, all eyes were on Sunday’s Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma as it served as the first road course race of the season and would be a tough test for the rookies to continue their streak of strong finishes. As it has for rookies throughout the years, Sonoma was the source of many struggles for the 2016 rookie class on Sunday, with none of the four rookies finishing inside the top-20. Coming outRead More