Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway was already off to a rough start for Ryan Blaney and Team Penske’s No. 12 team, after the car sustained damage from the transition from the apron to the track on the pace laps, but now an already rough day, has turned even worse only 55 laps into the event.
That's a hard hit for Ryan @Blaney.#NASHCAR // NBCSN pic.twitter.com/GKXXL4GV7c
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 20, 2021
The 27-year-old had been one of many drivers complaining about brake issues early in the event, with Blaney’s Menards Ford Mustang shedding large amounts of brake dust on the team’s green flag pit stop midway through stage one, ultimately culminating in a parts failure and a heavy impact to the outside wall in turn one.
Blaney would be the second driver to retire from the event, after Quin Houff, who slammed the wall in similar fashion on the first lap of the race, which would result in the a 38th-place finish for the playoff-bound driver.