For more than a year, Ryan Blaney has been knocking on the door of victory lane in the PASS South Super Late Model series. When Blaney began his second full season on the tour in its season-opening South Carolina Clash at Dillon Motor Speedway on Saturday night, the door to victory lane opened wide for the 16-year-old driver and he started out the points season with a strong victory over veteran Hal Goodson.
“This is a big relief and now the pressure to win a race is off,” said Blaney. “We had such a good car all last year and could have won some races, but for whatever reason it didn't happen. We came back stronger this season and the team and I are much more experienced now. That helped at Dillon.”
Blaney was able to reflect on his own development as a driver after the victory.
“I've gotten used to racing in PASS,” Blaney said. “Now, I'm smarter as a driver and I'm making better decisions on the racetrack. Experience behind the wheel means everything and the more you race, the better you get. I feel that I'm more in control now and I can push the car better and I know where the car's limits are a little better this year.”
Ryan Blaney Continues His Development With His First PASS South Victory
Ryan Blaney in victory lane.
Knowing those limits, and exactly when to push them, was key in Blaney's victory at Dillon. He set fast time for the 150-lap race, but had to start in the eighth position after a re-draw. Having to start deeper in the field, Blaney attacked the 150-lap race with a solid gameplan.
“I know that it was going to be a long race and I had a really good car,” said Blaney. “I just had to pace myself a little bit. Early on, I took what we could get. Around lap 50, I got the lead when Justin Wakefield blew an engine. The race went green from there, which surprised me, and we were in the right position for it. The car was great, especially on long runs, and I was just hoping that there wouldn't be a caution in the last 10 laps to bunch up the field. There wasn't one.”
Often, when a driver has a strong lead late in the race, his mind will start racing too. Drivers can start to hear noises and anticipate problems when they get so close to the finish line. Don't count Blaney among those drivers though. He had so much faith in the racecar that his team prepared for him that he didn't foresee any problems late in the race.
“I wasn't concerned about anything going wrong with the car at all. The team double-checked everything before the race and I knew it would be good.”
Blaney and his team will now have a few weeks to double and triple check everything again before their next event - the April 3rd Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC).
“We are going to be testing at Hickory, so hopefully we can run as well there as we did at Dillon this past weekend,” Blaney said.
