Ryan Blaney crashes in NASCAR Las Vegas race practice

Ryan Blaney will start his Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in the back of the field.

Blaney crashed Saturday in practice ahead of Sunday's South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the first race in the Round of 8.

The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion had his left rear tire go flat on his second lap of practice. When the tire blew, Blaney's No. 12 Penske Racing Ford impacted the outside wall in turn 1. He will go to a backup car and will not be able to post a qualifying time for Sunday's race.

“I didn’t really feel anything odd or out of the normal, out of the ordinary,” Blaney said to reporters on Saturday. “I figured, you know, a couple laps, the (air) pressures come up and you’ll be fine. Yeah, I didn’t feel anything down the front (straightaway) the lap that it blew into (turn) one, so it kind of caught me by surprise."

Blaney is four points outside of the cut line in the Round of 8 as the round begins at Las Vegas.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ryan Blaney crashes in NASCAR Las Vegas race practice