It was Ryan Blaney’s pit stop strategy that brought him the win at Phoenix earlier this season. But it was the same aspect that snatched a win away from him yesterday at Bristol. Pit stop delays has been a major issue with the #12 team this year. And although he has been one of the better-performing drivers so far in this season, Blaney feels that the team will have to seriously start working on this issue to bring Roger Penske a few more wins.
“We’ve got to get it better,” Blaney said, looking back at the race. “If we’re going to keep competing and get cars that can win the races and stuff, we’ve got to clean that up.”
Losing positions in the pit road has become a trend for him this season, and it only continued at Bristol. He had two terrible pit stops in the race from where he had to fight really hard to get back. Even though Blaney had fresher tires, Bristol’s overall racing style did not allow him to make overtakes.
.@Blaney says he got a test last restart but lost ground in turns 1 and 2.
He’s happy for @TyGibbs, saying you never forget your first win and he’s dealt with a lot of criticism. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/9igvev1XTo
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) April 12, 2026
Blaney had been in contention to win all day. Despite the nature of the track, Bristol managed to give good racing at the top, as the winning contenders kept changing. Even Kyle Larson had a good shot at winning at a point, but the final restart didn’t do him any good.
But the overall racing was quite entertaining. Although it was a little less chaotic for the spectators, the drivers found the new tire that Goodyear introduced to serve the purpose well. Both Larson and Blaney had reflected on it, making similar claims of the overall grip.
“I thought it laid a lot of rubber down, which was good. And the race, which is better than what we thought after practice for sure. I thought the tire was pretty good. It’s weird. I didn’t think it fell off a ton, but it clumped. I put a lot of rubber down, so I don’t know what to think about that. But it was fun working through the rubber progression through the day,” Blaney mentioned.
Although he did lose positions on the pit road, Blaney was still very much in contention to win the race on the final restart against Gibbs. But that did not happen.
Ryan Blaney on the final restart
“Yeah, I don’t know. Gave it my best shot the last restart. Got a good restart. Was close, but just couldn’t get it done,” Blaney said. He had the inside line on the restart, but how the trend had been throughout the race, the outside line favored the drivers much better in the initial laps, and that is exactly what worked for Gibbs.
He had much better grip and pace from the outside, and while Blaney hugged the inside line to get the best exit out of the final corner, Gibbs managed to get ahead just in time and won his first Cup Series race with the smallest of margins.
“I really wanted to win at Bristol here. I came close. But congrats to Ty. He’s been really close. Nothing is more special than your first Cup win. It’s pretty cool to win at this place,” he added.
Ryan Blaney came home in second place and was followed by Kyle Larson. The latter was attempting to win his season’s first race, but the #5 team will have to wait once again. These race wins are essential this season, considering how the Chase format unfolds. And while Blaney has put him in a good spot, he will have to keep this form up and the #12 team will have to resolve their pit issues, as he earlier mentioned.
