6 months ago Ryan Blaney has qualified third for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. On Friday, the reigning Cup Series champion kicked off the weekend by posting the fastest time in practice (73.202), clocking in at a speed of 97.866. While certainly an impressive speed, Blaney was actually just one of 16 drivers to exceed 97 mph in practice and one of 31 to come in over 96 mph. The reason this is noteworthy is because Sonoma has been repaved since last season's race, a move that was made to make the track faster. Considering Kyle Larson finished first in last year's practice session here with a speed of 91.730 and that every driver in this year's field eclipsed that speed on Friday, it is safe to say that the goal was accomplished. While there are always questions about whether a driver will be able to carry their practice speed over to the actual race, with Blaney, there should be little concern. Not only does the second-generation driver have three top-10 finishes in his last four starts here, but he has also finished 13th or better in his last four road races, averaging +9.5 in place differential in these contests. At a salary of just $7,800 and with the speed he demonstrated in practice, Ryan Blaney looks like one of the better value plays on this weekend's slate.--Adam Erhardt - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com