Ryan Blaney’s crew chief sends defiant message – Sports News
John Hassler insisted the No. 12 Team Penske crew are “perfectly capable” after a botched restart value Ryan Blaney victory at Darlington.
On Sunday, Blaney began ninth however flew up the standings as he rapidly established himself because the quickest car at Darlington Speedway. While Tyler Reddick led for a lot of of the closing laps, his tires gave out as Blaney flew previous – however a late warning compelled extra time.
Denny Hamlin seized his second, clinching back-to-back wins after ready virtually a yr for a victory. But Blaney appeared set to take the checkered flag earlier than a late warning was introduced out when Kyle Larson spun out.
Chasing Reddick, the opposite 23XI Racing driver, Blaney ate up the asphalt and closed on his rival earlier than making the cross and pulling away. However, with simply a few laps remaining of the 1.366-mile observe, Bubba Wallace collided with the rear bumper of Larson’s No. 5 car, sending him into the wall and drawing a warning.
Overtime adopted, and Hamlin seized his second whereas Blaney might solely rue what might need been. Ultimately, Blaney’s extra time problem was undone by a delayed pit stop – and the No. 12 crew chief Hassler addressed the problem after the race, with Blaney ending fifth after restarting behind Hamlin and Reddick.
“The group’s perfectly capable,” Hassler instructed Sportsnaut. “We’ve just got to clean it up, and we’ll be there, hopefully, sooner rather than later.”
Hassler defined the totally different pit strategy the workforce went for: “Yeah, I mean, I think that was really kind of our only play from where we were running to maybe have a shot to win or a good finish. We weren’t going to pit early when those other guys pitted and get to the lead. So, we just kind of chose to do something different, and it worked out.”
He added: “If you look they definitely had one mistake with the jack that cost us a lot of time. Our last stop was clean. A 9.3, I think, but guys were running low 8s. The 24 I think we matched his time there on the last stop, but in pit stall one, you just have that advantage. So, you know, I think it’s like anything else in the sport. Just takes a little bit of change to go a long way and I think we’ll be able to recover from this.”
After the race, the triumphant Hamlin appeared to acknowledge how Larson’s late crash ignited his victory. He instructed FOX NASCAR: “There’s two people I really love right now, my pit crew and Kyle Larson. Had a little assist there, so thank you. Man, the pit crew just did an amazing job. They won it last week, they won it this week. It’s all about them.”
DON’T MISS
Hamlin shall be chasing a third successive victory when the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues with the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sun., April 13.
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