While three Chevy teams swept the podium in the Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on April 7th, 2024, NASCAR Ford driver Ryan Blaney quietly fought back to a fifth-place finish after an early race mishap, leading The Blue Oval’s efforts on Sunday.
Blaney suffered a miscue on Pit Road and was forced to restart at the rear early in the race. Battling an ill-handling race car and rivals that proved insanely difficult to pass, he muscled the No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse within striking distance of the leaders. Then, in Stage 3, Blaney’s crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, took a risk, putting two tires on the race car, putting him in good position as they worked on the No. 12 Mustang’s handling.
“Obviously, not the first half of the race we wanted,” Blaney said after finishing fifth. “We didn’t get any stage points [during Stage 1 and 2] but I am proud of the fight and perseverance of the Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang 12 team. We will go on to Texas.”
Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Mustang, finished sixth, meanwhile, after leading an impressive 84 laps. However, he suffered a blown tire at the end of Stage 2, but managed to bounce back.
“It was a solid day,” he said. “We led a bunch of laps. We got out front, but the tire came apart at the end of that stage there, which cost us a stage win, unfortunately… After that, we kind of lost control of the race.”
Ryan Preece took ninth in the No. 41 NASCAR Ford, followed by Chase Briscoe, who took 10th in the No. 14 Mustang. William Byron’s No. 24 Chevy Camaro ZL1 got across the line first for the win, followed by the Camaros of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, respectively.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | 24 | William Byron | Axalta Ruby Chevrolet | 415 | 88 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Ruby Chevrolet | 415 | 86 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | UniFirst Ruby Chevrolet | 415 | 64 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 2 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 415 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 9 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Advance Auto Parts Ford | 415 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 6 | 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 415 | 84 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 19 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | MoneyLion Toyota | 415 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 8 | 10 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Ruby Chevrolet | 415 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 22 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 415 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 5 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 415 | 8 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 415 | 66 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 12 | 17 | 43 | Erik Jones | Family Dollar Toyota | 415 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 13 | 16 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Carson-Newman University Ford | 415 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 12 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 415 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 30 | 17 | Chris Buescher | BuildSubmarines.com Ford | 414 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 11 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Lucas Oil Chevrolet | 414 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 25 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Delaware Life Chevrolet | 414 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 4 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 414 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 19 | 15 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 414 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 20 | 26 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Overstock.com Ford | 414 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 21 | 35 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Long John Silver's Ford | 414 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 21 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 414 | 13 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 14 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Libman Ford | 414 | 6 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 13 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Body Guard Ford | 414 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 7 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Mobil 1 50th Anniversary Ford | 413 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 31 | 15 | Kaz Grala # | N29 Capital Partners Ford | 413 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 33 | 16 | Josh Williams(i) | Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet | 413 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 36 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 413 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 23 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | SUNNYD Chevrolet | 413 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 27 | 51 | Justin Haley | Ohanafy Ford | 413 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 24 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 412 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 32 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 412 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 34 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 412 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 28 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 412 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 20 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Yahoo! Toyota | 411 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 36 | 29 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Skip Barber Racing School Toyota | 396 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 37 | 37 | 66 | * David Starr(i) | Amptricity Ford | 311 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
Subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford racing news, NASCAR news, and ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comment
Ford NASCAR Racing Program Director should be fired. If Ford could beat Ferrari …surely they can beat Chevy and Toyota. I’m ashamed as a Loyal Ford Fan