Blaney Grabs Another Solid Top-5 in 2011 PASS South Championship Title Run

Blaney is making strides towards his championship goals.

Ryan Blaney posted another title-worthy finish in Saturday night’s Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina.  Blaney fought handling issues late in the event but battled back for a fourth-place finish.  The 17 year-old has yet to finish outside of the top-10 in the PASS South Super Late Model series in four races this year.

Tire management was a common concern of many of the driver’s in Saturday night’s 150-lap event.

“I think at one point we rubbed the right front a little bit,” explained Blaney.  “It was an alright night; I think I rode easy plenty enough, even though I didn’t think we’d have to ride that much here.  We’ve always been good here in the past and we always drove hard the whole race.  But tonight we just got really tight in the center which made the car really free off.   It was definitely a good points day too.”

In a race that attracts the PASS South regulars, a few PASS North faces and several other short track drivers from the region, Blaney was proud to bring home a top-5 in such good competition.

“There’s always a great turnout at the Easter Bunny (150),” said Blaney.  “I love coming to race this

race.  I mean, there’s everyone from the PASS South and PASS North that come down here to have a little battle, so it’s pretty fun.  It’s really fun to run with these guys and we’ll do it all again next year.  But now we’ll head to South Boston and see if we can do a little better.”

South Boston Speedway in Virginia is the next event slated on the PASS South schedule.  The 150-lap race will be held on Saturday, May 7th. 

“We were really good there last year,” said Blaney.  “We blew up our motor for the primary car we were going to run last year, so we had to pull the backup car out and we still finished second, so I’m really confident about going back there this year and having another good run.”

Blaney knows he’ll have to continue his streak of strong finishes if he’s going to reach his goal and bring the 2011 PASS South Title back to High Point, North Carolina.

“Top-5 finishes win you championships,” said Blaney.  “So if we can just keep having these good top-5 runs and good finishes we’ll be right there at the end.  It’s been a really hectic two weeks with these two big races in a row, but it’s always fun racing here in PASS.”

Before Blaney continues his quest for the PASS title, he will attempt to make his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut in the Blue Ox 100 at Richmond International Raceway this Thursday, April 28th.  Blaney will make at least one more NKNPSE start at Iowa Speedway in May.