September 30, 2024

Team Penske's Ryan Blaney finished Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in the fourth position after running well throughout the entire race. Starting from the seventh position, Blaney steadily made passes against the field as his car excelled on longer green flag runs. Blaney eventually climbed up to the third position, ending the first stage there and scoring stage points. In the second stage, Blaney lost track position through pit stops but took advantage of his fast car to move through the field. The No. 12 Ford driver eventually took the lead from Christopher Bell and led his only three laps of the day until a caution came out for Daniel Hemric's spin. Blaney would not see the lead again for the rest of the stage but still ended it in third, gaining further stage points. In the final stage, Blaney dealt with a loose wheel on lap 192, forcing him to pit during the green flag and lose major track position, but he made it back up thanks to a timely caution before he returned to pit road. Blaney would climb through the field once more in the last few runs of the race and ultimately gather his first career Kansas top-5 finish since joining Team Penske in 2018. Blaney now has 28 points above the playoff cut line as the Cup Series advances to Talladega, a track where he has plenty of success with three wins and eight top-10 finishes in 20 starts.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com