Ryan Blaney 'disappointed' by crushing ‘wasn’t meant to be’ ordeal at Darlington

Ryan Blaney was in a position to win Sunday’s (April 6) Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington. But the moment he lost the lead on pit road with only four laps to go, the Mustang maestro knew that he would also miss restarting on the front row.

As the race neared its end, Bubba Wallace spun out HMS driver Kyle Larson, thus bringing out the last caution of the day. That was when Blaney’s hopes of delivering his first win of 2025 were crushed.

Last week’s winner, Denny Hamlin, was among the top contenders on the field. He restarted on the front row and, following a two-lap battle with William Byron, pulled away to his second win of the season.

However, Blaney was able to salvage a top-five finish. He was proud of his team’s efforts all day. After all, it was his first top-10 since Atlanta, the second race of the 2025 season, where he finished fourth.

During a recent interview (quoted by Speedway Digest), Ryan Blaney lauded the No. 12 Penske group, saying,

“I'm proud of the effort that we had. I'm obviously disappointed in the result. I thought we could have won the race and had a good shot at winning the race. We did the last run perfectly. I thought our pit call was fantastic and our car was fast enough to stay. It had a lot of speed in it late, but a late yellow and then lost the lead off pit road.”

“We didn't even get to start on the front row and you're not gonna go from fourth to first in a green-white-checkered here, so it just wasn't meant to be, but proud of the effort,” he added.

Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 was the highest-finishing Ford that day. As of today, he sits seventh in the driver standings with 236 points to his name. The Hartford, Ohio native will now prepare for next week’s race, the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Scheduled for Sunday, April 13, the upcoming 500-lap race will be televised on Fox Sports 1 from 3 pm ET. Fans can also listen to its live radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“If your boy didn’t spin out Larson”- Ryan Blaney chirps 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan

As Ryan Blaney parked his car on pit road, 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan walked up to him for a quick chat. That’s when he told the former NBA legend that had Bubba Wallace not spun Kyle Larson, the caution wouldn’t have flown, and Blaney could have won the race.

At the time, the Team Penske ace had just grabbed the lead from Wallace’s teammate, Tyler Reddick, off turn 2. Additionally, Larson was already 171 laps down when the crash took place. Reflecting on the same, Blaney told Jordan,

“Hey, if your boy didn’t spin out Larson it would be…” (0:08 onwards)

Jordan responded, saying:

“Did he spin out Larson? I couldn’t tell."

Besides being fellow drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace happen to be close friends as well. Wallace was seen at Blaney’s wedding, which took place last year in Aspen, Colorado.

Others invited to the wedding were 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., and his wife, Amy Earnhardt.