Ryan Blaney crashes out despite dominant car at Bristol

Even being out in front at Bristol doesn’t mean you’ll be safe from the carnage at Bristol Motor Speedway, something Ryan Blaney learned the hard way.

Darrell Waltrip called it the hardest interview any NASCAR driver has to give: The one you’re asked to do when you have the best car and an excellent chance to win but crash out. That’s the one Ryan Blaney had to do Sunday when his Food City 500 ended early at Bristol despite the fact that his No. 12 Team Penske Ford looked like the class of the field.

It was so good that Blaney led 99 laps in Stage 1, and he was still in P1 when disaster struck. Chris Buescher and Trevor Bayne got together while Blaney was coming up to lap them.

He went high but other cars, including the 51 of Harrison Rhodes were caught in the chaos and came back up the track. Blaney couldn’t avoid them, and the resulting collision ended his day.

When asked to describe what happened, an obviously despondent Blaney had no real answers.

“I don’t know, I really didn’t see it happen,” Blaney said to the Fox Sports crew after he was released from the infield care center. “I was so close to the car in front of me when my spotter said ‘wrecking,’ I couldn’t even see it happen. They were coming up the track and I was at the top of the racetrack.”

It was especially tough to swallow because Blaney is still looking for his first victory of 2018 after breaking through at Pocono last year. The Food City 500 is a long afternoon, and even a dominant car early can be less than great later on.

Next: Food City 500 highlights, stage results and more

Still, Team Penske’s young gun figured to have a great shot at another victory on Sunday, and as Waltrip and Jeff Gordon noted up in the booth, it’s to his credit that he was still able to see even a little bit of a silver lining to his day.

“It sucks, but positives … we had a good car,” Blaney said. “That’s something to hold our heads high about.”