The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season has been a bittersweet story for Ryan Blaney. While the Team Penske driver has managed to outperform his teammates, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric, his pit crew let him down on not one, but several occasions.

And now, midway through the season, the issue didn't seem to end, as Kyle Petty has asked for accountability.

"The Achilles heel for the 12 car is Pit Road," NBC Sports broadcaster Steve Letarte said in a conversation with Petty in the "Inside The Race" podcast. "And at this point, I went from being critical to being empathetic. Like a kicker that's missed two kicks, now you're the fan base, you're like, just go for it on fourth down, because we definitely can't kick a field goal."

"Why hasn't it been fixed?" Petty questioned, showing his concern for Roger Penske's driver, Blaney. "It's been an issue since the second or third race of the year. Sometimes you do have to just wipe the slate clean and say, send me in six more."

Notably, Ryan Blaney faced several high-profile struggles on pit road throughout the 2026 season. As a result, he failed to extract worthy results despite showing elite, race-winning speed. Although he won a race, given the speed he has shown, he was expected to win a couple more.

It all started in Phoenix when he suffered a loose wheel, forcing him to make a pit stop. This dropped him from second to 24th. Despite that, he still won the race.

At Darlington, the issue persisted, as he had to tackle a left rear loose lug nut issue. As Blaney ducked into his teammate, Cindric's pit stall, NASCAR penalized him, which forced him to drop from third to 20th. The same pit road issues were alive at Bristol, Kansas, and most recently at the Coca-Cola 600, where he was sixth heading into the pits and 20th coming out.

Such issues have left him stranded despite starting the races strongly. Though Ryan Blaney has critiqued his pit crew, he has also stood by the potential they have to turn the situation around.

Ryan Blaney Stood By His No. 12 Team Despite Pit Road Issues

Ryan Blaney has lost over 100 positions in pit road since the beginning of the season and a couple of potential victories because of the slow stops.

However, in April, just after Team Penske made its first crew change for Blaney, he said on SiriusXM Radio:

"We have a new Jackman, and it takes a little bit of time to create that bond with everybody and create that rhythm and timing. So they’re working on the brink of perfection, and, you know, they might just make a mistake every now and then, but I was proud of them for understanding, ‘Hey, we have to get better here,’ and just continuing to work."

So far, Penske has made two changes on Blaney's crew, using its technical alliances to bring in talent from Front Row Motorsports. However, those have yet to pay off.

Ryan Blaney is currently in third place in the Drivers' Standings with 446 points. He trails leader Tyler Reddick by 176 points, and is the only Ford driver in the top five.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Yask Kotak