“Absolute dogs**t”: Ryan Blaney frustrated amid difficult start in Atlanta

Ryan Blaney had a difficult start to the Ambetter Health 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Despite starting the race from pole, he lost out his advantage, and moved out of the top 10, following which he lost his cool, and vented out his frustration on the radio.

The Team Penske driver started the race from pole but lost the lead to teammate Austin Cindric immediately. At one point, he further fell behind to 14th and this was when he lost his cool and vented out. Taking to the radio, he said, as per NASCAR journalist John Newby,

"'It's driving like absolute dogs*** back here,' Ryan Blaney says after falling to 14th."

Blaney with his #12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse was one of the favorites to win the Atlanta race. Currently, at the time of publishing this article, he was in sixth place behind Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson.

Blaney qualified in the pole on Saturday, ahead of his teammate Austin Cindric, Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry, and Penske's #22 driver Joey Logano. As three Penske drivers started in the top four, Roger Penske's drivers currently look very strong to take the race home.

This was something that happened in Daytona last week as well. Blaney, Cindric, and Logano all were in contention for the win. However, all three Penske drivers were involved in wrecks, and William Byron emerged as the winner in the end. It was the HMS driver's second straight Daytona 500 win.

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Ryan Blaney revealed why he lost top 10 spot

During the race, Ryan Blaney unraveled how he lost the advantage and fell back down the pecking order. Per PRN Live on X, the Team Penske star stated that he was experimenting with his setup, leading to him fall behind the top 10.

"Ryan Blaney is back up to 10th after falling out of the top 10. @prnbrett reports that Blaney said he was just experimenting with his car in traffic and there's no concern at all from his pit box."

Ryan Blaney lost the Ambetter Health 400 race last year by a minuscule 0.3 seconds to Daniel Suarez. It was the famous three-wide photo finish that involved Suarez, Blaney, and Kyle Busch.

As of Lap 137 of 260, Joey Logano leads the race ahead of teammate, Austin Cindric and Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman. Seeing how the 2025 edition of the Atlanta Motor Speedway race ends will be interesting.