Ryan Blaney to take break from NASCAR playoff race at familial SRX

By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer

Ryan Blaney comes from a family of race-car drivers. He learned from a young age the sport of racing, like all sports, isn’t always fair.

But the possibility of missing the playoffs when statistically he’s having one of the best years of his career? That might be hard to stomach.

As much as Blaney tries not to think about it, he can’t help but ponder the possibility of it happening. The 16-driver playoff field consists of the regular-season champion plus the next 15 drivers based on wins with ties broken by points.

Blaney, whose average finish of 12.2 ranks him third in the series, also sits third in current standings. But 14 drivers have won this year and with six races remaining in the regular season, there is a chance that for the first time in the playoff era only winners advance to the playoffs with no spots available on points.

“I don’t really get too nervous over it,” Blaney said. “I know in the back of my mind, like, OK it’s a possibility that stuff can happen.

“But right away I think if we just win a race, we’re fine. So I just try to focus on winning. That’s just the main thing, and it’s a lot easier said than done. We’ve been chomping at the bit all year. It’s just a matter of putting everything together.”

Ryan Blaney on playoff picture

Prior to Atlanta, Ryan Blaney already was concerned that he might not get into the playoffs on points despite having the most of any winless driver.

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If Blaney ever needed a good distraction, this weekend could serve as a way for him to forget his spot on the NASCAR Cup Series playoff bubble.

Blaney on racing his Dad in SRX series

Ryan Blaney is looking forward to competing against his dad at Sharon Speedway (where Dave Blaney is a co-owner) this weekend in the SRX race. Ryan: “He’s probably going to wax me pretty good.”

This will be the homecoming of all homecomings at a place where the fans know everything Blaney. Dave’s father, Lou, was a famous modified and sprint-car racer and was a co-owner of the track. Dave shined in sprint cars on dirt before making a transition to the NASCAR Cup Series. Dave’s brother, Dale, continues to race sprint cars while Ryan has focused on stock cars and NASCAR.

“Very similar to the Andrettis, to have that kind of history in that family’s name in motorsports is unparalleled,” said NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, who competes and operates SRX.

“It’s pretty cool to be able to not only race against Dave again but to get to race against Dave and Ryan at the same time is something that may or may not happen ever again.”

For Blaney, the race Saturday should be fun. The Cup race Sunday at Pocono Raceway? That remains to be seen.

In the last two weeks, Blaney has gone from 33 points behind points leader Chase Elliott to 78 points behind, making it a longshot for Blaney to win the regular-season title for an automatic bid to the playoffs.

After races, Blaney would glance at the points to see how close he was to Elliott. Now he has to focus on winning. If no one else wins, he’s relatively safe in points as he is 37 points ahead of the next winless driver (Martin Truex Jr.) and 105 points ahead of the next one (Kevin Harvick).

“There are guys that haven’t won yet that I expect to win from us, the 19 [of Truex], the 4 [of Harvick],” Blaney said.

“Anyone can win. You can see someone will pop up one week and jump up and win and do a good job, and they’re sitting 20th in points, and they’re in. So it’s a crazy time right now. You never know what can happen.”

If there is a Blaney trait, it is the ability to focus on the race car and the race at hand and not get wrapped up in everything else. The Blaneys are known for being relatively quiet people and doing most of their talking on the track. Ryan, just by growing up when his dad was in NASCAR, is the most extroverted in the bunch.

That has helped him generate a deep fan base. It probably won’t help him much Saturday night.

“It’s hard to get in my dad’s head,” Blaney said. “He doesn’t talk much. So he can’t really get in my head, I can’t really get in his. As it gets closer, I’m going to start poking little jabs. Nothing too explicit.”

And while he is familiar with Sharon Speedway, he doesn’t feel it will be much an advantage (and certainly not one when considering his father has many, many more laps than he does).

“I grew up there a lot with my grandparents and stuff like that, but I had very limited track time,” Blaney said. “That might be a good thing going up there with the SRX stuff. The less I know, the better, probably.”

What to watch for

Goodyear will bring a right-side tire that features an improved construction starting at Pocono. Construction is everything underneath the tread level of the tire (primarily the beads and the layers of rubber except for the outer layer.

The hope is to give the drivers more grip and added stability as it has been a common occurrence for drivers to spin out by themselves this year.

Goodyear tested this right-side tire at Pocono and Charlotte.

“We see this gain in performance as significant, as it was a positive on mile-and-a-half tracks, as well as the unique configuration of Pocono, with its three distinct corners,” said Goodyear director of racing Greg Stucker.

Anything that helps stability is good for drivers. They need to hope it also is more durable as Goodyear has had its challenges with the Next Gen car and the teams working to find the right balance of air pressures and camber that make the car go fast while also not punishing the tire to the point where it fails.

Loads on tires will be a primary concern at Pocono because of the three different configurations of turns and the high speeds on the 2.5-mile track.

Thinking out loud

Petty GMS Racing releasing Ty Dillon after the season, a decision announced last week, isn’t much of a surprise. Sometimes things just don’t work out.

Dillon entered New Hampshire 27th in the standings and dropped to 28th following an early crash. His average finish this season is 22.15, compared to teammate Erik Jones, who is at 17.35.

Jones has obviously clicked with his crew chief Dave Elenz, who was brought in before the merger when GMS Racing bought out Richard Petty Motorsports. Dillon and crew chief Jerame Donley never found a good synergy.

Will Dillon find another place to race? It’s possible, although it might end up being in the trucks or the Xfinity Series.

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They said it

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Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!

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