Ryan Blaney unveils the catalyst that ignited ‘desperation’ and ‘aggressiveness’ in Texas

Ryan Blaney says that the chaos in Sunday’s Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway came down to one key issue: the track is just too narrow. After finishing third in a race filled with incidents and difficult restarts, Blaney explained that the tight racing surface forced drivers to take more risks than they should be taking.

Blaney was one of many drivers caught in the chaos at Texas, where the race featured 12 caution flags for a total of 73 laps. Seven of those cautions came in the final stage alone, with multiple wrecks and spins changing the outcome of the race in the closing laps. It was the same story in the other two events this weekend, ie, the Truck and the Xfinity Series races.

Joey Logano, Blaney’s Team Penske teammate, ended up winning the race after taking the lead with four laps to go. He passed Michael McDowell just before the latter hit the wall. Ross Chastain finished second, while Ryan Blaney came home third. Kyle Larson and Erik Jones completed the top five.

After the race, Ryan Blaney discussed the racing at Texas with the media. When asked about Ross Chastain's earlier comment about the track in Texas wearing out and why he thinks the races are turning out to be so treacherous, Blaney responded by saying:

"Well, one, there's nowhere to go, so everyone just goes crazy on restarts and jams it in there and stuff, and then, you get out of the groove and you spin out. I don't necessarily think it's wearing out, like the groove is wearing, but it's not getting wider. So then it's hard to pass, so then everyone gets desperate, and they just shove it in there and have to be really aggressive. And a lot of times that doesn't play out at a narrow fast place like this." (0:22 onwards)

With the third-place finish, Blaney has moved up a spot in the drivers' standings into seventh with 313 points to his name.

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Ryan Blaney laments missed opportunity in Texas

Ryan Blaney was left frustrated after a late-race decision cost him a chance to win at Texas Motor Speedway. With the late race restarts becoming more and more important, Blaney made a call that he later termed a “dumb decision.”

During a restart on lap 245, Blaney was running second behind Kyle Larson. He had to choose whether he wanted to be on the outside lane or get behind Larson on the inside. Blaney chose the inside, which let Michael McDowell take the outside lane on the front row. McDowell used the clean air to pass Larson and take the lead.

Blaney never got the opportunity to take the race lead after that. He was later passed by his teammate Joey Logano and then by Ross Chastain during the overtime restart. Speaking after the race, Ryan Blaney was blunt about his mistake as he shared (via Motorsport.com):

“The one time I didn’t pick the outside (lane), the 71 [McDowell] gets the lead and then I couldn’t get it back. Just (the) driver making dumb decisions and not doing his job... The #12 car was a fast car today. I just can’t do nothing right currently. Hopefully it will work itself out.”

Blaney will return to Cup racing on Sunday, May 11, for the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway.