The Team Penske cars are still fast, and Ryan Blaney just earned the first pole award of the season for his No. 12 team. This is the 10th pole in his NASCAR Cup Series career. He matches his win total with the effort.
This No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse was fast out the door today. While drivers struggled with grip, perhaps due to marbles (small rubber bits from tire fall off) being blown onto the resin, but Blaney didn’t have an issue.
In Group A qualifying, Ryan Blaney ripped the bottom of the corners and up high on the walls in the straights. Team Penske wins their third pole of the season. Joey Logano had two before this. Logano finished P4 in qualifying today.
This is Blaney’s first pole award since Richmond in 2022.
Ryan Blaney will lead the field to green, and Josh Berry will be on the front row. This is Berry’s best qualifying effort in the Cup Series.
Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, and Kyle Larson are the rest of the top-10 after qualifying. Chris Buescher, considered a favorite for Bristol, finds himself starting way in the back after losing control on his qualifying lap.
Ryan Blaney ‘proud’ of his team for qualifying effort
You can’t be too upset when you win the pole for the first time in a season. Right now, Ryan Blaney and his team are all smiles and looking forward to the Food City 500 tomorrow. If I had a car that fast, I’d be excited to race it too.
The marbles on the track didn’t mess with Blaney as much as others. However, it was something he did note, at least how the track reacted throughout the afternoon.
“Proud of the whole Menards group, you know, Ford Mustang was fast all day,” Blaney said on FS1 after winning the pole. “Really good in round one and made some adjustments for the second round. The track kind of caught everybody by surprise, honestly. The time fall off, the grip lost behind the wheel was incredible, it was huge. So, it was like, who cannot mess up a lap and still put a decent time down.
“That was fun, it was fun working through it. I wish I could even do it over again to make our car even better because I think there was still some more out there. … Cool to get our first pole of the year and excited to go tomorrow.”
Ryan Blaney found the right mix of grip and speed. Now his team will try and get him a win on Sunday. The 2023 Cup Series champion has been hot to start this season, leading the points standings, now he has his eyes set on Victory Lane.
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