NASCAR
This weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to Pocono Raceway for the series second stop at the track in 2018. One driver who is possibly looking forward to returning to the track more than anyone is Ryan Blaney. Pocono has treated Blaney well throughout his short Cup Series Career so far. As Pocono is the track in which Blaney notched his first and only career win to this point.
Rough Summer Stretch for Blaney
After starting 2018 with five top ten finishes in seven races Blaney looked poised for a breakout season. However, it all went downhill from there for the 24-year-old driver in his third full-time season. Starting at Bristol bad luck began for the #12 Penske team. After being dominant and leading 100 of the first 117 laps Blaney was caught up in a crash caused by lap cars just in front of him. This unfortunate event resulted in a 35th place finish on what looked to be a promising day. Another race that sticks out is Kansas which is another where Ryan had possibly the best car. A race in which he led 54 laps and was looking to win late but got tangled in a late race incident with Kyle Larson that relegated him to a 37th place finish.
It hasn’t just been accidents that have ruined promising days for him though. At the Coke 600 at Charlotte Blaney finished stage one in 2nd place and looked to be on his way to a good finish. However, mid-way through stage 2 engine issues arose which resulted in a blown engine and a 36th place finish. Sonoma also wasn’t kind as he had to run most of the race without power steering and finished in 34th. It has seemed that at points this season whatever can go wrong will go wrong.
Pocono is a welcome sight for Blaney
However, this weekend at Pocono Blaney looks to continue digging himself out of his slump. The past two weeks have been good for the #12 team with finishes of 2nd and 7th and Kentucky and New Hampshire. So Pocono is certainly a welcome sight for the team that has just found its footing the past few weeks. In five starts at Pocono Ryan has finished in the top-11 four times including his first win last year. Earlier this year at Pocono Blaney started on the pole and led eleven laps on his way to a 6th place finish. So if his prior success at the track is anything to go off of, look for Blaney to continue the climb out of his slump this weekend and even possibly earn his second career win.
