Ryan Blaney finished 11th in the No. 29 Cooper Standard
RAM during his second career NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday
night.
Blaney had a solid start to the day qualifying in the 12th
position for Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 200. He began to
fight a loose handling RAM early during the primetime
event, however, sliding back to the 15th position by lap
10.
On lap 35, the caution flag flew for the first time, and crew
chief Doug Randolph called the Cooper Standard RAM into
the pit for four tires, fuel, and a major track bar
adjustment. The Brad Keselowski Racing pit crew worked
fast and picked up a few spots for Blaney who restarted
12th. Another caution quickly came on lap 37 for an on
track incident out of turn four involving the vehicles of
Jason White and Tim George, Jr. The No. 29 team took
advantage of this opportunity to refuel and make another
track bar adjustment. On the ensuing lap 44 restart,
Blaney began in the 22nd position.
The racing got intense during a long green flag stretch as Blaney demonstrated his driving talents picking up spots two and three trucks at a time. Randolph called the Cooper Standard RAM in for a green flag pit stop for four tires, fuel, and another track bar adjustment, and Blaney had climbed to the 14th position after the field cycled through the green flag stop.
A final caution flew on lap 105 set Blaney up for one final four tire pit stop and fuel for the final 21 lap shootout. The No. 29 Cooper Standard RAM battled to 11th place in the final segment marking a successful intermediate track debut for Blaney.
“We were too loose throughout the day really, and all race I could never get secure enough to run where we needed to and move around,” said Blaney. “I like the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series a lot so far. Representing Cooper Standard, Reese Towpower, and Draw-Tite has been an incredible experience. This weekend was a big learning curve running on a fast mile and a half track. I’m excited to get to Iowa, and I think we’ll be in a great position to put together a solid race.”
Blaney will be back behind the wheel of the Cooper Standard RAM in two weeks at Iowa Speedway. Tune into the SPEED Channel on Friday, September 15th for the American Ethanol 200 presented by Hy-Vee beginning at 8:00 P.M. EDT.
Ryan Blaney Finishes 11th in Atlanta
Post-Race Report: BKR Cooper Standard NCWTS
September 4, 2012
