Ryan Blaney Laments “Dumb Decisions” After NASCAR Cup Regret In Texas

Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney finished third in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, but his post-race comments revealed that he felt a potential victory slip away from him.

Despite advancing 21 positions from his 24th-place start to finish on the podium, the 31-year-old lamented his “dumb decisions” for not celebrating on Victory Lane.

He looked to be in contention for the win in the latter stages of the race. However, the restart on lap 244 saw Michael McDowell take the lead. Ultimately, Blaney’s Team Penske teammate Joey Logano clinched the victory after McDowell suffered a late-race wreck..

While speaking to the media after the race, Blaney explained:

“The one time I didn’t pick the outside, the 71 [McDowell] gets the lead, and then I couldn’t get it back.

“Just driver making dumb decisions and not doing his job. I appreciate the 12 car was a fast car. Just can’t do nothing right currently, so hopefully it will work itself out.”

Commenting on the restart, Blaney added:

“The top wasn’t very good at all. It was pretty dirty. And the one time I have a shot to do it, and don’t do it, the guy [McDowell] gets the lead.

“So I just didn’t do a good job. Then it was hard to get it after that. Just didn’t get a good push, and just could never hang with them over in [Turns] 3 and 4.”

Blaney concluded, discussing his climb from 24th to 3rd:

“Honestly, we really didn’t do it with strategy.

“We just kind of passed cars. So no, it was good and I thought our car was really good. I couldn’t get control of the race.

“So, overall, a proud day, fast car, and hopefully go forward. We’ve had speed all year, so it was nice that in the last couple of weeks, we’ve [Penske] gotten a car in Victory Lane. So that’s good, hopefully we can join them.”

NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway: Race results

1. Joey Logano – Running
2. Ross Chastain – Running
3. Ryan Blaney – Running
4. Kyle Larson – Running
5. Erik Jones – Running
6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Running
7. Austin Dillon – Running
8. John H Nemechek – Running
9. Christopher Bell – Running
10. Daniel Suarez – Running
11. Todd Gilliland – Running
12. Ty Dillon – Running
13. William Byron – Running
14. Riley Herbst – Running
15. Justin Haley – Running
16. Chase Elliott – Running
17. Zane Smith – Running
18. Chris Buescher – Running
19. Cole Custer – Running
20. Kyle Busch – Running
21. Tyler Reddick – Running
22. Shane van Gisbergen – Running
23. Ty Gibbs – Running
24. Carson Hocevar – Running
25. Austin Cindric – Running
26. Michael McDowell – Out
27. Chase Briscoe – Out
28. Brad Keselowski – Out
29. Ryan Preece – Out
30. Cody Ware – Out
31. Jesse Love – Out
32. Josh Berry – Running
33. Bubba Wallace – Out
34. Noah Gragson – Out
35. Alex Bowman – Out
36. A.J. Allmendinger – Out
37. Chad Finchum – Out
38. Denny Hamlin – Out