Ryan Blaney weathered through multiple pit crew errors starting this season. Dale Earnhardt Jr embodied the driver’s psyche saying, “For right or wrong, there’s probably some loyalty there.” But then came Bristol and that 0.055 second loss and out went Blaney’s patience. He demanded the team to get better, and clean up the mess. Of course, the boss listened, and got him a veteran to save the season. Except no good story, ends up this simple. 

To stop the bleeding, Penske did what we can say is a jackman swap between their flagship No. 12 and Wood Brothers No. 21, moving veteran Patrick Gray into Blaney’s team. Meanwhile, Landon Honeycutt went to the alliance team. A sudden change like this made everyone skeptical; given the decision could shake the team chemistry and make things worse. And just when fans started to settle in, Penske made another change.

It turns out that Patrick Gray is unavailable to join in at Kansas. He will be out due to personal reasons this weekend, and in place of this, Penske has someone else coming in to fill temporarily. Graham Stoddard is stepping in from Front Row Motorsports for now. This move for sure leaves the No. 12 without the stability that it was trying to create in the first place. But even then, the urgency behind all this isn’t hard to understand.

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Through eight races, the No. 12 team has lost 88 positions on the pit road. That’s the worst mark in the Cup Series. To put it into perspective, Ross Chastain’s No. 1 team is sitting next, and even that’s at 57. It simply shows how costly the mistakes have been. They have ranked 33rd out of 36 crews, and for a driver who is always in front of the pack, this is not the support he needs. It cost him big in critical moments.

Like in Darlington Raceway, a loose lug and penalty had dropped Blaney from third to 20th. At Phoenix Raceway, a loose wheel forced extra stops and killed the momentum. That’s not saying clean races were not there, but they were an exception, not the other way around. The Bristol incident, though, was the nail in the coffin.

Blaney arguably had the fastest car on the track, and he led 190 laps. But his crew made several mistakes, which made him lose positions. Blaney lost a net total of 11 positions on pit road at Bristol alone. Moreover, it’s not just an issue now; this showed his vulnerability to the opposing teams, and it was even caught on radio.

Cliff Daniels, who is Kyle Larson’s crew chief, was caught on the radio telling Larson, “The thing we can do on pit road is we can beat him [Ryan Blaney] off pit road, so we’re going to focus on that.”

When your competitor is using your pit crew as their strategy to beat you, it’s not a slump but a liability. But of course, then comes the question: How did it get so bad?

Well, one of the significant changes that happened with Blaney this season was the incoming of Landon Honeycutt. And sure, he might be credible, and that’s why Penske chose him, but that doesn’t discount the fact that he is still a rookie in the Cup Series level. And that showed in the races that followed this season. Thankfully, though, Blaney has covered well for the pit crew dramas.

Despite these issues in the background, Blaney sat comfortably second in the standings. He runs at the front consistently and is chasing Tyler Reddick on pace alone. He needs his pit crew to show up when it matters. This weekend eyes won’t be just on the 2023 champion but also on Graham Stoddard.

A look at Graham Stoddard’s NASCAR career

Graham Stoddard’s journey back into the spotlight couldn’t have come at a more critical time for Ryan Blaney and Team Penske. A former college linebacker for the Nebraska Huskers, Stoddard made the jump to NASCAR in 2014 through a pit crew combine. This unconventional path quickly turned into a decorated career on pit road.

His early years saw him contribute to success with Michael Waltrip Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing, including Xfinity Series wins and even a Snowball Derby triumph. But it was his move to Team Penske in 2018 that defined his legacy. Stoddard became a key figure on Joey Logano’s crew, playing a role in three Cup Series championships in 2018, 2022, and 2024. His consistency and athleticism even earned him a spot on NBC’s inaugural Pit Crew All-Stars team in 2017.

Still, his career hasn’t been without setbacks. During the 2024 championship finale at Phoenix, Stoddard was forced out mid-race due to illness or injury, with Pat Gray stepping in as a replacement. By 2026, he had transitioned to Front Row Motorsports, working on Noah Gragson’s crew before this sudden call back to the No. 12 team.

Now, he returns not just as a fill-in, but as a potential solution. His familiarity with Penske’s system and past experience jacking for both Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano make him uniquely positioned to bring immediate stability.

The question, however, isn’t about Stoddard’s resume. It’s whether even a proven veteran can quickly restore rhythm to a struggling unit. Because for Ryan Blaney, the Kansas NASCAR race isn’t just another weekend but a test of whether his team can finally match his pace.