You might have heard that one man’s misfortune can turn into another’s opportunity. And that is what we saw play out at Gateway. Ryan Blaney was on his way to making his way to the victory lane, but a mishap had him relegated to the back. And to take advantage of this scenario was Cindric, and behind him was Denny Hamlin!

Blaney finished 24th, second to last, whereas Austin Cendric picked up his first win in two years. Denny Hamlin expressed what he felt about the scenario in his podcast. One thing is for sure: Blaney didn’t see it coming.

Technical failures sideline two top contenders, opening the door for Denny Hamlin

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway was one thing—surprising! At first, the No. 20 car got out after suffering mechanical issues, after which Blaney took the lead. Then fans were waiting with bated breath for Blaney to take the win, but on the last lap, he ran out of gas! Given the amount of data and people behind the team, running out of gas seems almost implausible. But that was the case. With No. 12 behind, Denny Hamlin and Cindric just went for the goal. On the recent Action Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin talked about Ryan Blaney’s misfortune during the race. 

According to Denny Hamlin, No. 12 might have miscalculated the amount of fuel they put in the last pit stop. Also, he said that the Penske cars were running in third gear quite often. Essentially, what that does is that it increases speed and helps get good runs, but there is a catch: you burn more fuel. That is because you are running at a higher RPM. He said, “My thinking is that the miscalculation came from what was in the tank. They thought they had a certain amount in the tank when they pitted, and they did not. They had less than that.” 

In that race, we saw two technical issues that had top contenders out, and that might have rung the alarm bell for Denny Hamlin’s team. Right after Blaney got out because of fuel, they went, “Flip your fuel switch” and he agreed. He even went on to explain how the fuel and the reserve tank work. He stated that each driver has varying amounts of fuel in their tank. But they all have one common goal: to avoid running out of fuel and having to wait for a pit stop.

This is because wiping the fuel clean means delays and no one wants that. Also about the reserve gas, he revealed that it stays good enough only for a lap. He said, “The flip switch is only good for a lap and so or three-quarters of a lap. I’m not sure but say it started sputtering entering turn three you know flips the switch by the time he enters one he’s back. He’s lost his reserve tank as well.”

One thing is for sure, Blaney was just as surprised by the fuel running out.

Blaney thought he would grab the golden opportunity at Gateway

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Christopher Bell and Blaney were fighting to make it to the top. Bell was leading, but he suffered a mechanical issue, and his cruise to the finish line sank! Blaney saw the window of opportunity and made his way to the top. And he almost made it. But in a curious case of deja vu, he faced a similar fate to Bell, and this time in his position was Cindric, his teammate, and he took the victory.

After the race, Blaney admitted that he thought he would make it to the finish line. He said, “They were great, they did a good job. Happy for that team. I mean obviously bummed for us. The nut shots keep coming here this past month but hopefully… Straighten itself out, just proud of the effort, have to figure out what happened there. We thought we had more fuel than we did, it’s not like we left it short on purpose…so we have to figure it out, dig into that.”

While he was happy for his teammate, the defending Cup Series champion was distraught over his outcome. Blaney surely missed the golden opportunity, but the team surely did put up an enjoyable race with two cars racing at the top. As for Cindric, he was extremely delighted over his win. He said, “This weekend was a great weekend for everybody involved but yeah to have two cars in the fight, an eventual 1-2 there. Heartbroken for those guys but this is huge for me.”

While it was of course hard luck for Blaney, you win some, you lose some in sports. He certainly has more races ahead of him to prove himself.