The 2023 Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney, had Victory Lane within his sights at the Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. But some bad decisions in the final laps of the race pushed him down the ladder, and he had to settle for third place.
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Meanwhile, his teammate Joey Logano crossed the finish line in first place. Moreover, there is reason for optimism to run high in Blaney’s camp despite the disappointment. The victory was the second consecutive one for Team Penske after Austin Cindric’s heroics at the Talladega Superspeedway.
The momentum that has been brewing has led the team’s Vice Chairman, Walter Czarnecki, to believe that Blaney will soon find himself celebrating a win as well. He appeared in front of the press, along with crew chief Paul Wolfe, at Texas to express this confidence.
He said, “Team Penske has been bringing competitive cars for the first 11 races. We have been on the hunt at every one of them. We have qualified well. Had a chance to win some other races. Now, two in a row. Hope that’s a real momentum builder for us. But again, if we weren’t bringing good cars or there were other issues, that’s one thing. But we have been there. So, Blaney’s time is coming too.”
On the Lap 244 restart at Texas, Blaney chose inside row two. Michael McDowell climbed around Kyle Larson to take the lead while the No. 12 Ford Mustang driver chose to remain behind Larson. He later reasoned that he did not do the same as McDowell since the top was pretty dirty. Reaching Victory Lane was out of the question after that. He will now look to improve at the Kansas Speedway.
The relationship between Team Penske drivers could help Blaney
Although Team Penske is an organization of three units, they all function together with impressive chemistry. The mental synchronisation that they share is bound to help Ryan Blaney win a race soon. Logano’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, expressed the same thought in the press conference.
He said, “I really appreciate that relationship we have amongst our teams. Specifically, the 12. We work very closely together, and it’s kind of ironic how at the end of the race, we were racing the 12 for the win today. I saw [Jonathan] Hassler after the race and told him how much I appreciate our relationship and how well we work together.”
Hopefully, Team Penske will be able to make it three in a row with Blaney in Victory Lane at Kansas.
