Kyle Petty Explains Why Ryan Blaney Continues to Dominate Other Drivers at Phoenix

Ryan Blaney stepped up big time in Phoenix, winning the Straight Talk Wireless 500 and continuing his hot run of form across the speedway. In 21 starts at the 1-mile oval, Blaney carries an average finish of 10.4 and has two wins to his name, with particularly impressive pace in the Next Gen car.

Both of Blaney’s wins at the venue have come in the past four seasons, and in those seven races, he has finished outside the top ten only once. On Sunday, even when the race threw a few hurdles his way, the Team Penske driver kept his car straight and worked his way back toward the front.

Former driver and analyst Kyle Petty pointed to a trait that primarily sets Blaney apart at the track — the way he carries speed through the turns.

“I think Blaney has always if you looked at… when you look at the Penske cars he just seems to carry corner speed like nobody else there can and has. And he carries corner speed at Phoenix, and that’s what you need,” said Petty on his podcast.

“You need that corner speed, you need that entrance, that entrance to be able to get in and feel comfortable. But to be able to accelerate through the middle and off, and that’s where he carried it, and he carried it all day long today, and we saw it just wrapping the bottom, he could move up, but wrapping the bottom was where his speed was,” he continued.

The No. 12 team faced bumps along the road during the race. Blaney was sent to the rear after a stop outside the pit box and later had to claw his way back again after more trouble on pit road. In most cases, those slips would bury a driver deep in the pack. Yet when a car shows pace, it can wipe the slate clean, and Blaney’s run proved that point once again.

Petty noted that Phoenix has grown into one of Blaney’s best stops on the schedule and added that Martinsville Speedway is another track where the driver often flies under the radar.

Phoenix has a reputation for locking drivers in place once they fall into traffic. The groove can tighten, and the air from cars ahead can make a pass a tall order. As a result, mistakes on pit road often leave drivers stuck in the mud for the rest of the afternoon.

If track position slips away during a stop, drivers can spend lap after lap boxed in with no clear path forward. Petty said the rule seems to bend when it comes to Blaney.

For example, during the race, a loose wheel dropped Blaney to the rear of the field, a setback that would sink most runs before they could gather steam. Yet within eight to ten laps, Blaney had already charged back toward the edge of the top ten and, with a two-tire gamble, placed his No. 12 Ford at the front of the pack to win the race.