Ryan Blaney had a rough start to the weekend’s action in Las Vegas after suffering head pain following a hard wreck during NASCAR practice.
The reigning Cup Series champion is aiming for back-to-back championships after securing his place in the Round of 8 following last weekend’s Roval 400. But his weekend started painfully as he hit the outside wall during practice ahead of the South Point 400.
After completing one lap in the 20-minute practice session, a flat tire caused his No. 12 vehicle to spin and collide with the outside wall on the driver’s side. Following the collision, the 30-year-old communicated with his team over the radio, citing his head pain and apologizing for the wreck.
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“I had no warning, my head hurts. I had no warning, man. Sorry,” Blaney told his crew. He was subsequently taken to the in-field care center and released shortly after.
Speaking about the incident, Blaney said, “I didn’t really feel anything odd or out of the normal, out of the ordinary…I figured, you know, a couple laps, the (air) pressures come up and you’ll be fine. Yeah, I didn’t feel anything down the front (straightaway) the lap that it blew into (turn) one, so it kind of caught me by surprise.”
Blaney attempted to explain his setback in practice, saying, “I didn’t feel anything like super out of place to make me think that it was going to be flat into one. So that’s one of those things that stinks and catches you off guard. No indication, just the worst part of the corner.”
Due to the wreck, he will begin Sunday’s South Point 400 at the back, missing qualifying and only managing one official practice lap nearly two seconds slower than the leaders. Facing the race in a backup car, Blaney remains optimistic: “It’ll be a big challenge for multiple reasons but I feel confident hopefully we can make our way through there and we’ve got all race.
“Might not be able to get stage points in the first one, but hopefully by the second one, maybe we’ll get some stage points, and then hopefully the speed’s good enough to where we could run up toward the front.
“So yeah, it sets us back a little bit, but this group is ready to go, and they know the new task, and that’s going to be a tall one tomorrow, but I’ve got faith we can make the most of it.”
Blaney sits four points shy of the playoff cutoff line heading into Sunday’s race in Las Vegas. Cup Series leader Kyle Larson starts from P5, while second in the standings, Christopher Bell, starts in pole position.
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