“I feel like nothing ever really went our way.” Ryan Blaney’s words after the Goodyear 400 paint a grim picture for the Team Penske No. 12 fold. Earlier during the season, technical issues plagued the team. Phoenix and Homestead-Miami witnessed engine failures for the No. 12 Ford, which emitted plumes of white smoke. These mishaps, along with a Las Vegas crash contributed to three DNFs for Blaney. But just as the team believed it got over such technical blunders – another problem emerged in Darlington.

Before the NASCAR Cup Series visited the egg-shaped oval, many veterans raised concerns about Ryan Blaney’s stats. His top-ten streak ended in Atlanta, with no hope ahead. You would think that Blaney would rub a redemption story on their faces in Darlington, but slow pit stops came his way.

Ryan Blaney’s crew chief reveals the true reason for failure

At first glance, it looked like fate played Ryan Blaney dirty on Sunday. On lap 291, Blaney had overtaken race leader Tyler Reddick – right when Kyle Larson’s No. 5 car brought out a second caution flag. But behind the ‘Lady in Black’s intentions lay a more concrete fact. Throughout the Goodyear 400 race, Blaney dealt with a multitude of pit problems. The No. 12 got hemmed in behind Shane van Gisbergen’s No. 88 Chevy on the first pit stop, and Blaney was only able to get from 9th to 7th by the end of the first stage. Then, after clinching 4th in stage 2, there was trouble jacking up the left side of his car. That dropped him to 16th for the start of the final stage.

So, upon getting prodded in a post-race interview with journalist Matt Weaver, No. 12 crew chief Jonathan Hassler confessed. He conceded that despite matching the timing of William Byron, who led for the first 243 laps, Ryan Blaney could not make it because some of his pit members messed up. Hassler said: “You know, if you look, they definitely had one mistake with the jack. That cost us a lot of time. Our last stop was clean – 9.3, I think – but the guys were running low 8s. And the 24, I think we matched his time on the last stop at the pit stall 1; he just had that advantage. I think it’s like anything else in the sport; it just takes a little bit of change to go a long way. And I think we’ll be able to recover from this.”

Ultimately, the pit stop miscues are what robbed Ryan Blaney’s first Darlington victory. After the race went into overtime due to Kyle Larson’s wreck, Denny Hamlin’s pit crew got out first. Overall, the No. 12 team lost a total of 20 spots on pit road over the course of the day, including a critical final three positions before overtime. Like Jonathan Hassler, Blaney also conceded that the pit team needs some work. “Yeah, we’ve just got some things to work on, you know? I mean, I make mistakes. I screw up a lot. Those guys don’t have great stops every now and then. It’s just part of the sport. But you know, they’ll go to work, they’ll figure it out, where do they need to improve, just like we do with the race car.” 

The pit stop problem has been an issue that Team Penske has been dealing with all season. A closer look into average pit-stop times for each team reveals a scary picture for Team Penske. Across all races this season (excluding Darlington), the Team Penske trio of Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and Austin Cindric all rank among the bottom 20 in terms of four tire pit stops! All three Ford Penske teams boast an average time of over 11.2 seconds, with Logano at 11.5. Meanwhile, their fierce competitors over at Toyota are the best in the business, with Denny Hamlin’s crew leading the averages at 9.65 seconds per stop and all three JGR drivers sitting in the top 10.

Ryan Blaney may be scratching his head wondering about how his race turned topsy-turvy. However, he is not alone – a Cup Series rival is doing the same.

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Losing the tire game

“Just sucks,” William Byron sighed after washing up second in Darlington. His frustration is understandable –  since the beginning of the 2025 season, he has been the dominant Hendrick Motorsports driver. Having clinched one win and four top-fives so far, Byron ranks first in the championship standings. And everything was going right for him to win his season’s second race. He swept both stages and led for an astounding 243 laps. Byron became the first driver since Jeff Burton at New Hampshire in 2000 to lead more than 210 laps to open a Cup race. But things changed when Tyler Reddick pitted on Lap 240 under green.

The 23XI Racing driver was among the first drivers to pit in that green-flag cycle. So soon after, Reddick had a 6.2-second lead on Byron due to the faster laps on the new tires. William Byron’s crew chief, Rudy Fugle, knew losing this tire game would be costly for them in the long run. He said post-race: “We knew that Tyler was going to beat us (on the cycle). But with four-lap (fresher tires) and if we come out where we’re supposed to come out, I think it goes really well. It just didn’t work out. That’s racing. Everything comes down to that execution.” Eventually, Byron had a second chance when Blaney lost his pace after the lap 291 caution – but he could not get past Denny Hamlin, who continued his winning form from Martinsville.

Evidently, Blaney and Byron left the Darlington race with hearts heavier than boulders. However, both sit in very different camps. While Byron has already secured playoff qualification and leads the standings, Blaney is far behind his usual pace, sitting in 7th with no wins to his name yet. Do you think Blaney can turn his season around soon? Let us know in the comments!