Heading into Sunday\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, Steve Letarte does not have a great deal of faith in Ryan Blaney\u2019s prospects.<\/p>\n
Sure, Blaney won two races during the regular season, including the regular season finale at Daytona last weekend, but there\u2019s one thing that is really bothering Letarte.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven DNFs this year. Seven! We\u2019ve only run 26 races!\u201d Letarte<\/a><\/strong> said incredulously on this week\u2019s edition of NASCAR Inside The Race. \u201cMan, they\u2019ve had some stuff happen to them.\u201d<\/p>\n But somehow, some way, Blaney still managed to finish the 26-race regular season second in the point standings before they were reset for the playoffs. And even with the reset, Blaney is still ranked fourth coming into Darlington.<\/p>\n Steve Letarte explained that his biggest worry with Blaney is how the playoffs work once the number of races per round shrinks. With just three races in each round, the margin for error is small.<\/p>\n While Blaney<\/a><\/strong> starts with a slight advantage, sitting 20 points above the cutline, Letarte stressed that one poorly timed DNF could completely change things.<\/p>\n If something goes wrong at Darlington<\/a><\/strong>, which would be surprising to him, Blaney could realistically find himself below the cutoff heading into Gateway and Bristol.<\/p>\n