- Denny Hamlin is optimistic about Ryan Blaney’s pit crew.
- Dale Jr. calls out the No. 12 pit crew, urging management to address the issue.
- Kevin Harvick gives his blunt verdict on the crew’s performance.
Lately, the gap between car speed and pit road output has been quite evident in Ryan Blaney’s case. Blaney has been the lone Penske driver running at the front on a week-to-week basis, but his pit crew has been off the pace. From loose wheels to slow stops, the group has ranked near the bottom to start the season.
Even so, at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, the No. 12 crew kept him in the lead during key stops. Around the garage, though, there is a view that the team is willing to wear short-term pain in a bid to build for the stretch run.
Denny Hamlin and Dale Jr. elaborate on Ryan Blaney’s current situation
Eight races into the year, Ryan Blaney has three top-five finishes and six top-10s. Those results have come on the back of car speed and Blaney’s passing on track, even as pit road has cost him 86 spots in total. Despite that, Blaney has stood by his crew.
Speaking on SiriusXM NASCAR, he said, “I think we just go through this, right? We have a new Jackman, and it takes a little bit of time to create that bond with everybody and create that rhythm and timing. So they’re working on the brink of perfection, and, you know, they might just make a mistake every now and then, but I was proud of them for understanding, ‘Hey, we have to get better here,’ and just continuing to work.”
Even Denny Hamlin read it as a long game. “Well, if they had pe better people or the or they had guys that they believed in more, they would put them on the car. But it’s clear that personnel believes that that is going to be the best team. And when he says they’re young, they just need reps.”
“Obviously, they’ve seen enough in pit stop practice to say it might be a rocky start, but it’s we feel by the summer and fall when it really matters, these guys are going to haul a**. That’s what they’re thinking,” he added. Drawing from his own experience, Hamlin added that such groups can find a beat and then take off.
Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr. struck a note of balance with “For right or wrong, there’s probably some loyalty there…” he said, before saying,
“Upper management absolutely needs to tackle this situation. There are people who it’s their job to make sure that pit crew is badass. It isn’t Blaney’s job. He might be able to go into this person’s office and say, ‘Fix my pit crew, damn it…’ If the pit crew’s an issue, it might need a little attention.”
Kevin Harvick gives harsh feedback on Blaney’s pit crew
Pit road has twice turned a strong run into a scramble. At Darlington Raceway, Ryan Blaney ran near the front when a loose lug nut on the left rear forced an extra stop early in Stage 2. He ducked into teammate Austin Cindric’s stall for a quick fix, but NASCAR sent him to the rear for pitting outside his box. In one swing, he fell from third to 20th and lost track position.
At Phoenix Raceway, he dodged a harsher blow after a pit road error led to a second stop to secure a loose tire. The issue surfaced midway through Stage 2 while he ran second. A vibration from the left side forced him back down pit road. The wheel stayed on, sparing a stiffer penalty, but the extra stop dropped him from second to 24th. He clawed back to ninth before a caution for Chase Briscoe hitting the wall. Under yellow, another loose wheel forced a stop in Joey Logano’s stall to tighten it, bringing another penalty and sending him to the rear again.
At Martinsville Speedway, the crew kept it clean and brought home a top-10. Even so, the body of work has been stark. FOX broadcaster Mike Joy noted the No. 12 crew ranked 33rd out of 36 full-time teams at that stage of the season.
And while Hamlin and Ryan Blaney are convinced that cutting them some slack could help them get better in the long term, Kevin Harvick did not mince words before saying,
“They don’t have the speed, let alone the consistency. I mean, he might be driving at the best that he’s driven in his whole career right now. Kind of like your golf game. You get off the tee box, you putt, but you can’t get down the fairway. I’m hell on wheels when it comes to pit crews. I’m pro driver and pro fast pit stops. So if your pit stops are not fast, you are paid to pit the car, and they better be good.”
For all the setbacks, Ryan Blaney sits second in the standings with one win and 324 points. But the question now is whether the crew can find its footing before the playoffs, and if at all, whether Blaney is able to make it to the playoffs in the first place.
