Ryan Blaney made “dumb decisions” in Texas after losing NASCAR win

Ryan Blaney feels his “dumb decisions” cost him a potential first victory of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series in Texas on Sunday.

Penske driver Blaney was among the frontrunners in the closing stages of the 400-mile Texas race, which was interrupted by several caution periods.

During the all-important restart on lap 244, he chose to take the inside line behind Kyle Larson, which allowed Spire Motorsport’s Michael McDowell to grab the lead on the outside.

This was just one of several post-caution restart periods where Blaney failed to capitalise on his starting position, eventually finishing third behind Penske teammate Joey Logano and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain as the race went into overtime.

Speaking afterwards, 2023 Cup Series champion Blaney blamed his own errors for a win that he felt slipped away from his hands.

“The one time I didn’t pick the outside, the 71 [McDowell] gets the lead, and then I couldn’t get it back,” he said.

“Just driver making dumb decisions and not doing his job.  I appreciate the 12 car was a fast car. Just can’t do nothing right currently, so hopefully it will work itself out."

Explaining his choice on the lap 244 restart, Blaney added: “The top wasn’t very good at all. It was pretty dirty. And the one time I have a shot to do it, and don’t do it, the guy [McDowell] gets the lead.

“So I just didn’t do a good job. Then it was hard to get it after that. Just didn’t get a good push, and just could never hang with them over in [Turns] 3 and 4.”

Blaney’s podium was still remarkable considering he took the start from 24th on the grid in his #12 Penske Ford.

He remained in the hunt for victory until 10 laps from the finish, when he went side-by-side with the #71 Spire Chevrolet of McDowell.

But he soon dropped behind his teammate Logano, who then passed McDowell with four laps to run to take his first victory of the season.

Blaney also managed to overtake McDowell for second shortly after, but the latter’s crash prompted another caution period, sending the race into overtime.

It was on the final restart that the 31-year-old dropped to third place, behind the #1 Chevrolet of Chastain.

Explaining his climb up to third place, Blaney said: “Honestly, we really didn’t do it with strategy.

“We just kind of passed cars. So no, it was good and I thought our car was really good. I couldn’t get control of the race. 

“So, overall, a proud day, fast car, and hopefully go forward. We’ve had speed all year, so it was nice that in the last couple of weeks, we’ve [Penske] gotten a car in Victory Lane. So that’s good, hopefully we can join them.”