Determined pit work and steady driving by Ryan Blaney put the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion into the top 20 for the first time in the young 2015 season with a 19th-place finish in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
LAS VEGAS, March 8, 2015 – Determined pit work and steady driving by Ryan Blaney put the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion into the top 20 for the first time in the young 2015 season with a 19th-place finish in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Starting in 30th place, Blaney quickly moved up to 25th in time for the lap-25 competition caution when crew chief Jeremy Bullins gambled by taking two tires instead of four.
“We had two tires and no track position and that’s a bad combination,” Bullins said following the race. “We struggled through that run. We needed clean air to make two tires work and we didn’t get it.”
“At the end of the first run we were okay,” Blaney said. “Then we came in and put two (tires) on and it really upset the race car and made it do a bunch of different things. At least we learned that early, not to do two and that’s when we fell back and lost a lap.
“Unfortunately it was a long green run when we had two tires on, we got lapped and could never get it back,” Blaney continued. “At least we tried it early enough in the race where we could recover from it.”
The Wood Brothers Racing entry held serve for the middle 200 miles of the race, maintaining 29th position, one lap down with a car that was having trouble in the turns.
“In the middle of the race we tightened up,” Blaney said. “We couldn’t get in the corner and that was a big hurt for us.”
With 100 miles to go, Blaney had maneuvered the famous No. 21 to 20th place, and with 40 laps remaining, he gained a spot to move into 19th where he finished a lap down.
“Finally, during that second-last run I thought we were really, really good and we just didn’t get a caution when we were in the lucky dog spot,” the 21-year-old rookie driver said after climbing out of his car. “We learned a lot today as far as me driving and Jeremy and everyone on the box. We’ve come a long way from where we practiced. I thought the race car was pretty good toward the end.”
The next stop on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Circuit for the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion is the Duck Commander 500 on April 11 at the Texas Motor Speedway.
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About Motorcraft
Motorcraft® offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended and approved by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to under-hood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer exceptional value with the highest quality and right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford and Lincoln dealers, independent distributors and automotive parts retailers are backed by Ford Motor Company’s two-year, unlimited-miles Service Parts Limited Warranty. Ask for Motorcraft by name when you visit your local auto parts store or your favorite service facility. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com.
About Quick Lane Tire & Auto Centers
Quick Lane® provides automotive quick services for all makes and models. Quick Lane’s nationwide network of more than 700 facilities, each providing the convenience of an aftermarket company (no appointment necessary, service while you wait, evening and weekend hours, competitive prices) with the confidence of a major automotive manufacturer (quality parts, factory-trained, technicians). In addition to offering trusted parts from Motorcraft, Quick Lane Tire & Auto Centers offers brand-name tires from Goodyear, Continental, Michelin and others. Quick Lane® is a registered trademark of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.quicklane.com
Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 98 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 117 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion driven by Ryan Blaney in the famous number 21 racecar.
