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Ryan Blaney Slams Wall At Kansas Speedway, Will Race Backup Car

Jared Turner Written by Sports EditorJared Turner
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Ryan Blaney

Last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney won the race and in so doing punched a ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8.

Good thing for Blaney he took care of business in the opening race for the Round of 12.

Otherwise, the Team Penske driver would be behind the proverbial eight ball after crashing out of Saturday’s Cup Series practice at Kansas Speedway.

What Happened To Ryan Blaney In NASCAR Cup Series Practice At Kansas?

If Ryan Blaney wins the second of three races in the Round of 12, it’ll be after starting from the rear of the field in a backup car in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN Bet.

That’s because Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion, slammed the Turn 2 wall with his primary car in Saturday practice at the 1.5-mile Kansas City track.

“We blew a tire, so we’ll have to look at it and see why that was,” Blaney said in a media transcript available from Ford Racing. “I hate that we crashed a race car and stuff like that.

“But we’ll take a peek at what we need to do differently and hopefully come from the back tomorrow. I’m looking forward to getting the race going tomorrow.”

Blaney said over his team radio seconds after wrecking that a failure on his left-rear tire, specifically, caused him to lose control.

“Man, that’s a big hit for the 12 car,” USA Network announcer and former Cup Series crew chief Steve Letarte said on the live broadcast of Cup practice.

Tire Failure On No. 12 Team Penske Car Came Without Warning

As much as Ryan Blaney wishes he could have avoided wrecking on Saturday at Kansas Speedway, there appeared to be virtually nothing he could have done differently.

“I wouldn’t say I really had any feel of something kind of (being) off until right before it went, honestly,” Blaney said of the rogue tire. “It kind of had that normal feeling to it until it blew. That’s kind of the hard thing about when you blow tires like that. They don’t feel way off, and then they just kind of give out the next moment.

“So, I didn’t have any kind of caution beforehand.”

Blaney’s No. 12 Ford suffered heavy damage to its right side, leaving his Team Penske group with no opportunity to repair the machine. So, a backup car it will be on Sunday.

“It’s just unfortunate,” Blaney said. “I hate that we’ve got to get a backup out and do all that deal. But we’ll fight through it.

“Like I said, I’m just looking to getting out there tomorrow and seeing what we’ve got.”

Jared Turner Written by Sports EditorJared Turner
Jared Turner is a motorsports writer who has covered NASCAR for 20 years. He has interviewed over 20 NASCAR Hall of Famers and around 100 drivers, crew chiefs, and team owners, both past and present. He has also covered the sport for FOX Sports (where he was a two-time recipient of the FOX “X” Award for “Xtraordinary” job performance), NASCAR.com, Sporting News, NASCAR Pole Position Magazine, the SPEED network, and plenty of other online and print-only publications throughout his career. Notably, Jared has penned dozens of articles for NASCAR souvenir programs, including several featured prominently in Daytona 500 keepsakes. A Virginia Press Association award winner and former member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Jared has racked up accolades both for his writing and his academic work. He studied both Communication and Psychology at Virginia Tech, where he was permanently enshrined in Phi Beta Kappa — the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. Jared excels at feature writing and opinion writing, much of which stems from his dedication to all levels of racing.
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