Roger Penske just might be the happiest man on the planet after his Indy Car team driver, Josef Newgarden, retained his Indy 500 win. The Penske driver became only the sixth driver in history to have back-to-back wins in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

However, the same cannot be said for his reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney, who had trouble with his right front tire on the pit road, which wasn’t locked out by his pit crew during the Coca-Cola 600. Blaney even hit the wall as his tire blew during the race, and had to rush down the pit road once again.

Blaney was unable to catch a break after the Darlington crash

This was Blaney’s consecutive DNF finish and early exit from the Cup Series race. Before the All-Star weekend, he suffered a similar fate at Darlington Raceway. Apart from his string of top 5 results early in the season, the Penske driver just hasn’t been able to hit his championship-winning form this season. Results like these only add to the misery of the driver, and it’s fair to say this is going to be a long, hard season for him.

The incident happened during Stage 2 of the race when Blaney made a quick pit stop and tried getting back on the racetrack. However, as soon as he made his way to the track, he slammed the wall in Turn 3 and lost control of his race car. He did make his way to the pit road in hopes of changing the tire, but the impact his car had while making contact with the safer barrier ultimately ended his race early.

Sharing his thoughts on yet another disappointing exit from the race, Blaney in an interview said, “I don’t know, I have to look. Just made our stop and just getting to speed, got into 3 and blew a tire. I don’t know if I run over something; I’ll have to look at it. But yeah, a shame that early, not even halfway (…) I was hoping our car would kinda come to us with the track changing but never got that shot.”

While Blaney didn’t have a definitive answer to what caused the tire failure, the fans online were convinced it was an error by his pit crew.

Fans react to Blaney’s early exit from Coca-Cola 600

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Fans were riled up to see the #12 crew make a costly mistake on the pit road, on a racetrack where Blaney could have made a comeback run after his win last year. “Had one good pit stop and then fu**ed Ryan Blaney over on another to knock him out of the race and the struggle bus of a season continues. Feels like that winless streak is going to get pretty long. Not sure if Ryan makes the playoffs or not. #nascar #Coke600 #Cocacola600.”

Some even suggested a change in the pit crew for the #12 team before it was too late. “Time for some big changes on pit crews at Penske. Bad karma for not doing throwbacks!!!” We have seen Richard Childress Racing make multiple changes in their pit crew lineup in an effort to get the desired results. And fans wanted Team Penske to follow suit: “Penske needs to clean house…”

Gutted Ryan Blaney fans also sharing their disappointment added, “pain for ryan blaney”.

“Boy what a stinky day for Ryan Blaney at Charlotte”.

Fuming over Blaney’s bad luck this year, another fan angrily wrote, “F**k me, step away to mix a drink, and Ryan Blaney wrecks to get knocked out of the #Coke600 😡😡😡. Just not his season at all. #cocacola600 #nascar”.

In dire need of points and a win, perhaps a return to the World Wide Technology Raceway could potentially save the season for Blaney. And, the #12 team needs to stay on their toes as they cannot afford any more slip-ups.