Roger Penske star Ryan Blaney burning for redemption after recent playoff disappointment

Ryan Blaney, No.12 Ford driver for Roger Penske's racing team and the defending Cup champion, is looking for redemption after a tough playoff race at Talladega.

Blaney's day ended early during the YellaWood 500 last weekend due to a wreck in Stage 2. Blaney still managed to earn some important stage points which leaves him in a decent position as he heads into the next race.

He talked about the last race and shared his optimism for the next one on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

"Even though our day ended early, with the wreck in Stage 2, we were still able to gather a couple of stage points there at the end of it. And then, that big wreck at the end of the race caught up a handful more guys that were in the playoffs. That kind of leveled it for us, in a way. I still finished behind those guys, but we did a great job at Kansas the week prior to put us in a good spot on points. Some of those other guys had issues at the end," Blaney said.

Blaney is 25 points above the cut line before the race this weekend at the Charlotte Roval.

"Not in a bad spot heading into this weekend. Looking forward to it. I have high hopes this weekend. I feel like we're going to bring some good stuff, and hopefully we do. Hopefully, we can compete and be able to move on," he added.

Ryan Blaney has a strong record in his six races at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He won the race in 2018 and had a fifth-place finish in 2020 and a ninth-place finish in 2021.

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"I don’t think that there was anything malicious there" - Kevin Harvick on Ryan Blaney's frustration at Talladega

Ryan Blaney's race at Talladega took a turn when he was involved in a crash caused by Alex Bowman’s push. He then crashed into Ross Chastain which caused Chastain's car to catch fire. Blaney's car was badly damaged and he finished eighth in the stage.

Blaney was frustrated after the wreck but Kevin Harvick believes he was wrong to criticize Alex Bowman. On Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, he said drivers push hard for points, which can cause accidents.

"I think Alex just hit him harder than the car could take, and I don’t think that there was anything malicious there. He was just trying to put himself in a position to get ahead of any car… The only way you get anywhere is to push, and we see this every time we go to a superspeedway, you push harder to go further. At some point, it spits somebody out, and this time it was Ryan Blaney,” Harvick said.

He added that this kind of aggressive racing is common at superspeedways and is part of the drafting strategy.