Ryan Blaney Truck Kansas Preview

Ryan Blaney (@RyanBlaney22), driver of the No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford F-150 is fourth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, four points behind the leader.  He has scored top 10 finishes in both NCWTS races this season for an average finish of 5.5.  His average starting position through the first two races of the season is an impressive 2.5.  

 

Ryan Blaney Notes

    • Has one previous NCWTS start at Kansas Speedway.  He scored a third-place finish in 2013 after starting in 19th-place.
    • Blaney has two poles in 33 previous NCWTS starts, both coming at intermediate size tracks (Kentucky and Homestead).

Ryan Blaney – No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford F-150: HOW CRITICAL IS TRACK POSITION AT KANSAS?  “It’s really critical.  The tires don’t wear out that much so there are a lot of opportunities to take two tires, or even no tires, if you get a short green flag run.  Track position is really huge.  It’s kind of hard to pass at that place.  There is so much grip you’re just running wide open all the time and it’s hard to get by a guy unless he messes up.  Restarts and track position are a really big key.”  

 

HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE PRACTICE SESSIONS PRIOR TO THESE TRUCK RACES?  “It’s always important to have a fast Cooper Standard Ford F-150 right off the truck.  It just makes the weekend go so much easier when you’re firing off pretty good and you’re close to where you need to be.  That’s so important nowadays to be good right away and to get a good qualifying spot.”  

  

YOU HAVE COMPLETED RUN EVERY LAP THIS SEASON ON THE LEAD LAP.  “That’s very important.  We have less races than Cup and Nationwide and it’s hard to make that up if you have a couple of really bad finishes.  That’s what really hurt us last year.  It’s all about consistency but at the same time you’re got to win races and I think that’s something that we can do this year.  We must stay consistent throughout the year and not put ourselves in a bad position to throw away a bunch of points.  Consistency and speed are what we and I think we’ve got that.”

 

Chad Kendrick – Crew Chief, No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford:  TIRE WEAR MIGHT NOT BE A BIG FACTOR THIS WEEKEND AT KANSAS.  COULD YOU BE LOOKING AT CHANGING ALL FOUR TIRES JUST ONCE?  “That is a very good possibility.  If something were to happen and you needed track position you could do two tires and or maybe if you’re halfway in a run you could do fuel only and then go to the next run and put your tires on.  Tires are not a big, critical deal at Kansas like it is at the other mile-and-a-halfs that we go to.”

 

DOES THAT MAKE YOUR JOB AS A CREW CHIEF MORE FUN OR MORE STRESSFUL?  “It drives me nuts (laughs).”

 

BKR PR