Penske plagued by tire issues in NASCAR Cup practice at Kansas

The good news for Ryan Blaney? He is already locked into the Round of 8 after an impressive for New Hampshire.

That will allow the team to breathe easy despite an unfortunate crash during NASCAR Cup practice at Kansas Speedway. After completing just four laps, the No. 12 Team Penske Ford cut a tire and slammed the outside wall at the exit of Turn 2.

The contact will force Blaney into a backup car and he will be starting from the rear of the field.

“Blew a tire,” Blaney told USA Network after being released from the infield care center. “We’ll have to look at it and kind of see why that was. I hate that we crashed a race car, but we’ll take a peek at what we need to do differently, and hopefully come from the back tomorrow.”

He went on to say that nothing felt wrong before the tire cut down, which was likely the result of aggressively low air pressures. This was a common issue in the first race at Kansas earlier this year.

“It had that normal feeling to it before it blew,” continued Blaney. “That’s kind of the hard thing about it. When you blow tires like that, they don’t feel off and then they just give out the next moment … just unfortunate. Hate that we got to get a backup out and do all that deal. We’ll fight through it though, and I’m just looking forward to getting out there tomorrow and seeing what we got.”

Logano with tire trouble

Watch: Penske practice problems continue as Logano has flat tire

Another Penske driver suffered a flat right-rear tire later in the same practice session, as three-time and defending champion Joey Logano slowed. Thankfully, he slowed down the front stretch and avoided a crash.

“I felt it starting to feel funky through (Turns) 3 and 4 there,” explained Logano. “Just didn’t feel right, so I lifted off the corner. Glad I caught it there. Overall, we should be okay. We’ll put on four tires, make some adjustments, cross our fingers and hope she runs good (laughs).”

As a precaution, Austin Cindric in the third Penske car took no further part in the practice session. He is 19 points below the cut line, while Logano is 24 points up.

“Bit of a concerning session in a lot of ways as a team, but this place is pretty crazy for that,” said Cindric after practice. Unfortunately, he ended up hitting the wall in qualifying but was still the top-qualifying Penske driver in 26th. Logano will start back in 35th, while Blaney will be 37th after not taking part in qualifying.