{"id":24027,"date":"2019-03-08T19:35:13","date_gmt":"2019-03-09T01:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=24027"},"modified":"2019-03-10T11:00:21","modified_gmt":"2019-03-10T16:00:21","slug":"ryan-blaney-speeds-to-phoenix-pole-after-tempers-flare-on-pit-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/08\/ryan-blaney-speeds-to-phoenix-pole-after-tempers-flare-on-pit-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Blaney speeds to Phoenix pole after tempers flare on pit road"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2013 Ryan Blaney<\/strong> ended the day the way he started it\u2014with the fastest car at ISM Raceway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 MoneyLion Ford, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway on March 8, 2019 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Daniel Shirey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

After leading opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> practice with the quickest lap of the day (141.716 mph), Blaney put his No. 12 Team Penske Ford on the pole for Sunday\u2019s TicketGuardian 500 at the one-mile track.<\/p>\n

Blaney covered the distance in 25.480 seconds (141.287 mph) in the final round of knockout qualifying to outpace Chase Elliott (140.045 mph) by a comfortable .203 seconds.<\/p>\n

The Busch Pole Award was Blaney\u2019s first of the season, his second at Phoenix and the six of his career, putting Blaney in good position to follow teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano to Victory Lane, after their respective wins at Atlanta (Feb. 24) and Las Vegas (Mar. 3).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just got to clean some stuff up,\u201d said Blaney, who had a fast car at both Atlanta and Las Vegas, only to be done in by pit road snafus. \u201cWhile it\u2019s nice to have Penske winning, I\u2019m selfish\u2014I want to win. It\u2019s good to have our cars really fast, and our finishes definitely don\u2019t reflect how we\u2019ve been running.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been really fast at all three places so far. If you keep bringing fast cars to the race track, ultimately, it\u2019ll work out for you one of these times. I want to be part of the winning club here in the Penske group. It\u2019s nice to have the whole team really fast right now. We fired out of the box really good this year, so hopefully we can just keep it going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 MoneyLion Ford, poses after qualifying for the pole position for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway on March 8, 2019 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Daniel Shirey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

DAYTONA 500 winner Denny Hamlin qualified third at 140.007 mph, followed by Joe Gibbs racing teammate Kyle Busch (139.855 mph) Keselowski, Alex Bowman, William Byron, nine-time winner Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Daniel Hemric, and Logano.<\/p>\n

Elliott had mixed feelings about his front-row starting position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate qualifying second,\u201d Elliott said. \u201cWe\u2019ve qualified second out here last fall and then this one. But I guess he (Blaney) isn\u2019t a bad one to qualify second to. But I look forward to Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our Hooters Camaro at least has a good place to start, and we can have a good pit selection. That\u2019s important. We have a long race ahead. But I\u2019d really like to get a pole outside of a (super)speedway track. We\u2019ll try again next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first round of qualifying ended with a fracas between Ford drivers Michael McDowell and Daniel Su\u00e1rez, neither whom made the top 24. Suarez accused McDowell of holding up the no. 41 Stewart-Haas Mustang on his crucial hot lap at the end of the session.<\/p>\n

Su\u00e1rez returned the favor by trying to wreck McDowell\u2019s No. 34 Front Row Racing Ford after the fact.<\/p>\n

After exiting his car, Su\u00e1rez stepped over pit wall and advanced toward McDowell who made a preemptive strike and shoved Su\u00e1rez. The two grappled, andSu\u00e1rez body-slammed McDowell to the pavement before the two combatants were separated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just trying to get in his way like he did to me,\u201d Su\u00e1rez said. \u201cI\u2019m the kind of driver that I\u2019m going to give a lot of respect to you always, if you give me respect back. If you don\u2019t give me respect, I\u2019m going to go kick your ass.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDowell said that, with most drivers waiting to post laps until time was running out on the first round, heavy traffic was inevitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just miscommunication on the race track,\u201d McDowell said. \u201cWe all kind of waited till the end, and then you just had a lot of traffic. Just unfortunate. He was upset that I held him up on his good lap, and then he tried to crash us. I just didn\u2019t appreciate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heat of the moment stuff. Just racing. Shorter practice session. Shorter qualifying. Getting late going through tech. The intensity ramps up. It\u2019s all a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, McDowell (27th) and Su\u00e1rez (28th) will start side-by-side from the 14th row on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Ryan Blaney – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/MENCS_ISM_Blaney_030819.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 15th Annual TicketGuardian 500<\/strong><\/p>\n

ISM Raceway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Avondale, Arizona<\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday, March 8, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

               1. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 141.287 mph.<\/p>\n

               2. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 140.171 mph.<\/p>\n

               3. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 140.007 mph.<\/p>\n

               4. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 139.855 mph.<\/p>\n

               5. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 139.849 mph.<\/p>\n

               6. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 139.768 mph.<\/p>\n

               7. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 139.567 mph.<\/p>\n

               8. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 139.411 mph.<\/p>\n

               9. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 139.206 mph.<\/p>\n

               10. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, 138.991 mph.<\/p>\n

               11. (8) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 138.846 mph.<\/p>\n

               12. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 138.664 mph.<\/p>\n

               13. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 138.867 mph.<\/p>\n

               14. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 138.803 mph.<\/p>\n

               15. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 138.803 mph.<\/p>\n

               16. (1) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 138.766 mph.<\/p>\n

               17. (21) Paul Menard, Ford, 138.739 mph.<\/p>\n

               18. (6) Ryan Newman, Ford, 138.696 mph.<\/p>\n

               19. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 138.520 mph.<\/p>\n

               20. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 138.435 mph.<\/p>\n

               21. (47) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 138.329 mph.<\/p>\n

               22. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 137.452 mph.<\/p>\n

               23. (43) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 136.939 mph.<\/p>\n

               24. (32) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 136.830 mph.<\/p>\n

               25. (95) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 136.804 mph.<\/p>\n

               26. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 136.560 mph.<\/p>\n

               27. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 136.514 mph.<\/p>\n

               28. (41) Daniel Suarez, Ford, 136.472 mph.<\/p>\n

               29. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 136.457 mph.<\/p>\n

               30. (36) Matt Tifft #, Ford, 136.307 mph.<\/p>\n

               31. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 134.786 mph.<\/p>\n

               32. (00) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 134.444 mph.<\/p>\n

               33. (15) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 133.388 mph.<\/p>\n

               34. (51) Cody Ware #, Chevrolet, 129.636 mph.<\/p>\n

               35. (77) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 125.672 mph.<\/p>\n

               36. (52) Bayley Currey(i), Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2013 Ryan Blaney ended the day the way he started it\u2014with the fastest car at ISM Raceway. After leading opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice with the quickest lap of the day (141.716 mph), Blaney put his No. 12 Team Penske Ford on the pole for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":24029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[561,16,435],"class_list":["post-24027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-ism-raceway","tag-nascar","tag-ryan-blaney"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/mencs_ism_blaneyprac1_030819.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-6fx","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24031,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24027\/revisions\/24031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}