'We definitely have to be better' - Blaney

Survive and advance might have been good enough to get through the first round of the playoffs but Ryan Blaney says his Wood Brothers Racing team has to improve going forward.

"We can't go out this weekend and run like we did at Dover. That was pretty bad. We definitely have to be better," Blaney said at Charlotte Motor Speedway where the Round of 12 kicks off. "We're going to have to get a bunch of stage points and run at least in the top 10 in all three races to transfer on.

"As we cut teams, it just gets harder to make it into the next round. We do have to get better. I'm not going to say we're where we want to be. We need to be faster and compete and be able to go out there and do it every single weekend. I think this will be a pretty big testament for us and how it's going to go off here in the second round. We do need to be better, for sure."

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There was a little bit of an expectation that the first round would be the toughest for Blaney. Tracks like Dover International Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway have not been the best for him thus far in his brief Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.

Although his best finish in the first three races – ninth – did come at New Hampshire. His average finish for the round was a 14.3. Blaney is eager to see the second round, though.

"Last week [Dover] wasn't the prettiest at all, but we did what we had to do to get in. I look forward to the second round," Blaney said. "I think the next tracks will suit us a little bit better because of the mile-and-a-halfs, and Talladega we always run decent at."

Performing is one thing, finishing is another. And part of Blaney knowing he needs to improve will be in not repeating his luck from earlier this year at Charlotte and Talladega. A top-10 contender in both races, Blaney suffered an axle failure at Charlotte and was collected in a crash at Talladega.

Kansas could very well be Blaney's best track. In five starts, Blaney has an average finish of 11.4 with three top-10 finishes. He also scored his first career pole at Kansas this past May.

"I'm looking forward [to this round]. It's nice to be at Charlotte opening this thing," Blaney said. "Hopefully we can have some good runs and start off on the right foot and hopefully be in a decent spot for Talladega, so we don't have to hit a home run or anything like that. But if that happens, we'll just kind of roll with what we have to do."

Blaney qualified 15th for Sunday's Bank of America 500.