Ryan Blaney’s former crew member reveals Team Penske's motive behind his shift to FRM

Former crew member of Ryan Blaney's No.12 team, Skip Flores, shed light on the reasoning behind his switch from Team Penske to Front Row Motorsports. The front tire changer was recently moved to Zane Smith's No.38 team, in return for Keiston France from FRM.

On April 17, it was announced that Blaney's pit crew will see a shake-up ahead of the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The move comes after inconsistent performances by Blaney's pit crew during the first nine races of the season. The switch was made possible due to Penske's technical alliance with FRM that allows them to share pit crew.

During an episode of his podcast Stacking pennies, Flores discussed Team Penske's motive behind the move with co-host Corey Lajoie. He said,

"I talked to my pit coach and he was like 'man I feel we have to make a change somewhere and the most Cup ready guy I have is a front changer,' okay. I was like look, I have been taken off of this car in the last 11 years four different times and put back on. So, it's just part of the business."(0:20)

Ryan Blaney faced the brunt of a lackluster pit crew during his recent outing at Dalington Raceway. With three laps remaining, Blaney was leading the field when Kyle Larson's wreck brought out a caution, leading to Denny Hamlin capturing the lead off pit road.

"Never really got to control the race. I feel like nothing ever really went our way. Pit road, we got to work on a little bit. Caution coming out during the cycle set us way back. I felt like we just kept making up spots." Blaney said post-race [via Motorsport.com]

Notably, the No.12 driver lost around 20 places during the course of the race, ultimately missing out on his first win at "The Track too Tough to Tame"

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Ryan Blaney thanks his crew for a 'solid' result at Bristol

Ryan Blaney scored his second consecutive top-five finish during the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The half-mile concrete saw low tire wear, making passing difficult at the track. However, Blaney's crew helped to keep his No.12 Ford among the front runners, scoring an eighth place rating in pit-crew performance.

Reflecting upon the same, Blaney shared an X post acknowledging his crew's efforts.

"Solid weekend for the 12-Crew. Thank you to all of our partners and everyone back at the shop."

Ryan Blaney currently sits sixth in the driver's standings after nine starts and three top-five finishes. Up next, the 2023 Cup champion heads to Talladega Superspeedway, a track where he has secured three Cup Series victories in the past. His last victory at the 'big oval' came in 2023, promoting him to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR playoffs and ultimately to his first NASCAR Cup championship.