6 months ago

Team Penske's Ryan Blaney almost won Sunday's Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway but had to settle for second at the end of the race. Beginning the event from the 20th position, Blaney steadily made his way through the pack with one of the best cars of the day. In the first stage, Blaney progressed to the top 5 and finished the stage in fourth, collecting stage points. Blaney began with the lead during the second stage but lost it to Chase Elliott after the restart. The No. 12 Ford driver continued to run inside the Top 5 until he hit the wall on lap 112, leading him to pit road on the very next lap. The damage was minor enough that Blaney continued and returned to fifth at the end of the stage, gathering more stage points. In the final stage, Blaney's team improved his car to the point where he became one of the favorites for the win and nabbed the lead at multiple points. Eventually, after Kyle Larson caused the final caution of the day trying to overtake Blaney for the lead, another restart would occur where Blaney restarted alongside Tyler Reddick. Although Denny Hamlin took the lead from Blaney, he steadily mounted a charge and regained the lead on the white flag lap. On the final corner, Reddick chased Blaney, who went towards the middle of the race track and left a lane open on the top for Reddick. As a result, Reddick passed Blaney and went on to win, causing Blaney to finish as the runner-up at Homestead for the second year in a row. As the Cup Series heads to Martinsville next, Blaney is 38 points behind the cutoff line to advance in the playoffs. Blaney will be one to watch as he probably needs to win to advance at a track where he is the defending winner.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com