NASCAR Xfinity Series

Ryan Blaney sputters to career-best Cup finish in Daytona 500

Published Feb. 26, 2017 7:53 p.m. ET

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Chase Wilhelm

Ryan Blaney couldn’t hide his disappointment despite earning his career-best Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series finish in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Running out of fuel down the backstretch on the final lap, Blaney had just enough left in the tank to earn a second-place finish in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Fusion behind race winner Kurt Busch.

Sputtering to the finish line, Blaney considered himself lucky to finish where he did.

“I got to second behind the No. 41 (Busch) somehow and that kept us going the whole way,” said Blaney after the race. “I laid back to the No. 47 thinking I’d get a good run and I was sputtering and running out of gas on the backstretch.”

It was the best Daytona 500 result for the Wood Brothers since 2011, when Trevor Bayne became the youngest-ever winner of the Great American Race.

Hoping for the same Cinderella story in his second full-time season with the organization, Blaney came up just short. But he worked his tail off to get to the front in the closing laps.

“Well, it took longer to get going than I thought,” Blaney said. “I tried to make a move with 10 to go and I didn’t go anywhere. I thought we were kind of stuck. Luckily we had the No. 22 (Logano) with us. I kind of helped him and he kind of helped me.”

“I got to second behind the 41 somehow and that kept us going the whole way,” he added.

An incident in the Can-Am Duel qualifying race forced the No. 21 team to pull out a backup car for the 500, making the runner-up finish even more impressive.

“It was a solid race,” Blaney said. “It was such a fast Ford. For (it) to be a backup car, that really means a lot for Ford and Motorcraft. Not what we wanted but a pretty good run and start to the season.”

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