Ryan Blaney has firey end to his Coca-Cola 600 night

Ryan Blaney running into misfortune unfortunately isn’t a new thing for him, but he hasn’t ended any race in quite the fashion that he did Sunday night at Charlotte.

There’s no question that Ryan Blaney is on the upswing. After winning his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race last year, he joined Team Penske for the 2018 season and started off the new campaign with five top-10 finishes in his first seven races.

Things haven’t gone quite as smoothly in the five races since Texas, with Blaney finishing 22nd or worse three times. Early on, it appeared good fortune was back on his side during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on Sunday night, as his No. 12 PPG Ford was able to run with anyone except Kyle Busch.

Late in Stage 2, though, his luck turned bad again, with an issue that appeared to be either with the engine or electrical system slowing Blaney dramatically. He was able to stay on the track, however, and even remained on the lead lap into Stage 3.

But the end came for the 12 car before that stage was over, and it came in dramatic and firey fashion.

It was a scary sight for the 24-year-old, with flames pouring out of the back of the car and from the front wheels. After it came to a rest on the infield grass (which amazingly, did not catch on fire), Blaney was able to climb out and get clear before track personnel arrived to extinguish the flames.

The driver told the Fox TV crew that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

“It looks worse than it is for us on the inside,” Blaney said. “It got warm and smoky.”

Yes, yes it did.

Next: Coca-Cola 600 highlights, stage results

Blaney was guaranteed to finish the Coca-Cola 600 no better than 36th, making it another night that began with promise and ended in disappointment. At least he emerged unscathed from the unintentional fireworks show and will be ready to go next week at Pocono, the race he won in 2017.