2 months agoRyan Blaney took a major hit to his playoff hopes by finishing eight laps down in the 32nd position during Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Starting the race from the 37th and final position, Blaney was prepared for a long day in a backup car after crashing his primary car during practice. In the first stage, Blaney steadily made progress from the rear to the front and eventually broke into the Top 20 after 27 laps. Even after pit stops, Blaney continued to move up but did not make it far enough to earn stage points, as he placed 17th at the end of the first stage. After taking the green flag to begin the second stage, Blaney smacked the wall and spun out after two laps as he was caught up in a multi-car accident with Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, and teammate Austin Cindric. Although Blaney's crew was able to repair the damage to his car and avoid going to the garage, the performance of the No. 12 Ford driver was never the same as he failed to keep pace with the leaders. Blaney continued to lose laps off the pace until the end of the race, obtaining his third finish outside of the Top 30 and putting him in a deep playoff deficit to advance past the Round of 8. As Blaney is now 47 points behind the cutoff line to advance, he will head to Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he finished as the runner-up last year.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com