"We survived it and now we’ll get out of here" - Ryan Blaney calls it a 'decent finish' after P5 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Winner of this year's All-Star Race, Ryan Blaney flew under the radar for most of the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. The 400-mile-long race in Hampton. Georgia saw the 28-year-old driver finish in fifth position. Blaney's #12 Wabash Ford Mustang made for the second Team Penske car to finish in the top-five at the 1.5-mile-long track.

The Hartford Township, Ohio native complained of a lack of pace during the initial stages of the race, similar to his teammate Austin Cindric. Late adjustments to Cindric's car saw him progress and gain speed during the race, which did not happen for the #12 car's driver and crew. Blaney spoke about how lucky he was to get a top-five finish after losing track position during the pit-stop cycle, and said:

“We were OK. We just lacked a little speed. We were decent, but we kind of lost track position there when some guys only did fuel and it was hard to get back up. Luckily, we ended up with a decent finish. We’ll go on to next week. We survived it and now we’ll get out of here.”

Coming into the weekend, Ryan Blaney was tied with Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott as the favorite to win the 400-mile-long race. Blaney gave his best shot at a possible visit to Victory Lane as he battled the #9 Chevrolet Camaro driver before claiming victory in Stage 2 of the race. He elaborated on how he felt during the event and said:

“It was a pretty good day. We got back in traffic there a little bit and it was just hard to make it back up. You just can’t go anywhere. It gets two-wide and you’re just stuck and you can’t really go anywhere, unless you were the 9 and you were the fastest car out there by a mile. It was pretty easy for him to go wherever he wanted. That looked fun, but, I’m just happy to end up decent.”

---

Ryan Blaney could make an appearance in the playoffs based on Cup Series driver standings

Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney might not have visited Victory Lane in a points scoring race this season, but his chances of making the Cup Series playoffs aren't over just yet. The #12 Wabash Ford Mustang driver sits in second place in the driver standings table after last Sunday's Quaker State 400 where he scored a P5 finish.

Based on the number of points Blaney has, he could be slated for a playoffs appearance later this year if he keeps his consistency as it is.

Watch Ryan Blaney attempt to keep his playoffs chances alive next weekend during the Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.