Breaking It Down: What happened to Ryan Blaney at Phoenix?

Despite yet another strong showing, including dominating by leading the most laps and winning a stage, Blaney once again came up short Sunday

Ryan Blaney came home in fourth place in Sunday’s Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway after multiple setbacks throughout the race hindered his dominant performance.

Blaney seemed to be the favorite to win after starting on the pole, winning the second stage, and leading a race-high 143 laps. Yet, misfortune forced him to settle for a top-five finish after a late-race pit error mired him back in the top-10.

This performance largely reflects the type of season Blaney has had so far, as once again, he fell victim to misfortune despite showing elite speed.

Blaney dominated the first stint of the race before a pit road speeding penalty for going 0.1 MPH over the speed limit sent him to the back of the field on lap 28. In an attempt to get back into contention, crew chief Jonathan Hassler employed a unique tire strategy that put Blaney back in the lead with older tires to start off stage two.

From there, Blaney and the No. 12 team flexed their muscle as they held off the field en route to a dominant Stage 2 win that left them looking primed for victory heading into the final stage.

Final from Phoenix. 🏁@MenardsRacing | @shellracingus | @AutoTrader_com #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/DXzEUxoBBH

— Team Penske (@Team_Penske) March 13, 2022

However, misfortune struck again on lap 225 as Blaney’s rear tire changer lost control of the lug nut during a pivotal stop. The mistake sent Blaney backward from 2nd to 9th place, which ultimately took him out of contention for the win.

The ensuing 61-lap green flag run left him little opportunity to regain track position as passing in traffic was a challenge for every driver throughout the race. Although a couple of late-race cautions provided a chance to bunch back up with the leaders, Blaney never saw the lead again. It was the ninth race of Blaney’s career where he’s led over 100 laps. Interestingly enough, he’s failed to come home with the win on all nine occasions.

Following the race, Blaney kept a level head about the situation.

“I lost the lead there on pit road and just could never get back,” Blaney remarked. “I don’t know. I just didn’t have quite the speed and was kind of too tight. I could drive up through the field and make good spots and nobody could really do that. You would just get really tight behind people. Not a bad day. A good recovery from last week (crashed and finished 36th at Las Vegas).”

Blaney went on to say, “we had a fast car, just a shame we couldn’t contend more for the win.” A quote that perfectly describes his season up to this point.

Despite leading at every race this year, Blaney finds himself 13th in the standings. After pushing Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric to the win in the Daytona 500, Blaney has fallen victim to all sorts of bad luck. In California, Blaney had a top-5 car all day only to have a poor pit stop with three laps to go, ultimately leading to an 18th place finish. His luck only worsened in Las Vegas, as he showed speed early on but got collected in a Brad Keselowski spin that took him out of the race and resulted in a 36th-place finish.

Blaney has made a statement with his strong performances this season, but this recent string of bad luck has left him with nothing to truly show for it. While the results have been frustrating, to say the least, the season is still young, and the speed is certainly there for the Penske No. 12 team.

Given their speed, one should expect to see Blaney back in victory lane soon enough. However, the team must focus on mitigating mistakes and turning their luck around right now.

Blaney still seems primed to have a breakout season this year, but this team may not reach its full potential if pit crew errors persist. Keep a close eye on Ryan Blaney and his team in the coming weeks to see whether they will execute on their speed, or if they will succumb to their mistakes and misfortune even further.

Follow Austin Dickey on Twitter @AustinIsTyping