Ryan Blaney shows impressive speed at COTA, finishing eighth

AUSTIN, Texas- Throughout his career, Ryan Blaney has shown to struggle consistently at road courses. That narrative came to a halt Sunday at Circuit of the Americas. 

Blaney finished eighth on Sunday, not reflective of the speed the No. 12 car had. At several points, it looked as though Blaney had the fastest car on track. It was an all day affair between Blaney and Tyler Reddick at the front of the field, but Reddick emerged victorious for the third straight week. 

With 17 laps to go, Blaney restarted on the front row alongside Reddick, but in the outside lane that is not preferred at COTA. Coming out of turn 1, the No. 12 car began falling back, eventually settling into his eighth place finish. 

“I just lost grip,” Blaney said post-race. “I don’t know. I just kind of lost grip and lost touch with Shane and Tyler. Yeah, it was weird.

“I wasn’t really pushing hard like after the green flag pit stop with Tyler, knowing it was going to be a longer run, no caution or not.”

It was an alright day in the points department, only getting points in the second stage when he finished seventh. Blaney leaves COTA fourth in the points standings, sitting -86 to points leader Tyler Reddick. If you include the clash and the duel race, Blaney has finished in the Top-10 in every race except for the Daytona 500 so far in 2026. 

The speed in the No.12 car was surprising for many, given Blaney’s rough history at road courses in recent seasons. His only road course Top-10 last season was at Watkins Glen, where he finished sixth after starting on the pole. 

According to the FOX broadcast, the No.12 team took a huge swing with their setup for Sunday’s race, coming to Austin with a completely different setup than usual. The fruits of this gamble appeared to pay off Sunday, even if the finish was not reflective.

Up next for Blaney is Phoenix, where he won back in November’s season finale. Phoenix has been one of his best tracks, where in 20 starts, he’s collected 14 Top-10 finishes, 10 of which were Top-5 results. 

The Straight Talk Wireless 500 from Phoenix Raceway goes down next Sunday, with the green flag set to fly at 3:30 p.m. ET.