Ryan Blaney Trades Hard Luck For Hardware at Ace Speedway
Sets New Track Record, Avoids Late Crash to Become First PASS South Repeat Winner
After a strong run in the CRA Rowdy 251 at Berlin Raceway ended in a late crash and a dominant ARCA Racing Series debut at Winchester went away due to a flat tire, one could forgive Ryan Blaney for being frustrated with a couple of near misses late in the month of June.
But, the turn of the calendar to July was just what Blaney needed to get past the tough luck. On Friday, July 1st, Blaney took advantage when leader Jay Fogleman had a bit of bad luck of his own to take the PASS South Super Late Model series victory at Ace Speedway in North Carolina. With the victory, Blaney became the first driver to win twice on the ultra-competitive tour this season.
While the night would end in his second victory, it began with Blaney’s first pole of the season. In fact, the 14.939-second lap at the four-tenths of a mile facility in Altamahaw, NC, set a new track record for the series. An invert put Blaney’s Heavy Duty Industrial Services/Seal Wrap #10 ninth on the starting grid, but he quickly made his way to the front.
July 5, 2011
“The car was good for the race. I think I burned a little bit of my stuff up in the beginning,” said Blaney. “We had to go from ninth, so that hurt us a little bit. I was just trying to conserve brakes as my main priority. Last year, we ran out of brakes and Ace is such a high-braking track, it’s really imperative you save all the brakes you can.”
That philosophy paid off in the long run, as leader Jay Fogleman had to hit the binders to avoid an accident, allowing Blaney to maneuver quickly through the scene and past Fogleman. From there, Blaney held off Fogleman, a main foe for him in the 2011 PASS South Championship battle, for the final 12 circuits and brought home the winner’s trophy.
The Ace victory was Blaney’s fifth career series victory and allowed him to cut the gap to leader Fogleman to just twelve points as the series reached its halfway point.
“It’s great to get back in Victory Lane,” added Blaney. “Especially after the week before when we ran that ARCA race at Winchester and should have won that right and cut the right front tire. We’re the first repeat winner in PASS, too. It goes to show how difficult that series is. I always have a great time out there.”
The next race for Blaney will be at Gresham Motorsports Park with the PASS South tour on July 16th. While Gresham has never hosted a PASS race, Blaney did finish third there in a CRA race last July.
“I’m really looking forward to going back (to Gresham). We’re finally getting really good with my new crew chief [Shane Tesch] and starting to connect and understand each other more.”
For more information on Ryan Blaney, visit www.ryanblaney.com. Be sure to follow Blaney on Twitter, @ryanblaney10.
Ryan takes the checkered flag at Ace Speedway (NC) for his second win of the 2011 season. (Speed51.com Photo)
