Q&A: Ryan Blaney on winning his first NASCAR title and working with Ford, Penske

Posted by Talbot Payne on January 24, 2024

Dearborn — Ryan Blaney won his first career NASCAR championship in November by passing contender Kyle Larson in the final laps at Phoenix Raceway to finish second, giving Team Penske back-to-back Cup titles.

Blaney, an Ohio native whose father is former Cup driver Dave Blaney, followed teammate Joey Logano in winning two straight titles for businessman and racing legend Roger Penske. Blaney won two of the final six playoff races in a big boost for Ford Performance. Blaney, who turned 30 on Dec. 31, sat down recently with Detroit News Auto Critic Henry Payne to talk about his championship season, his relationships with Penske and Ford, and what he drives off-track.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity.

Ryan Blaney enjoys Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C.

Ryan Blaney enjoys Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, May 29, 2023, in Concord, N.C. Matt Kelley, AP

Question: I am at Ford headquarters with Ryan Blaney, your new NASCAR 2023 champion. Ryan, a tremendous season, obviously, for you. (Detroit) is a big baseball, basketball town. They have long seasons — 100-plus games in baseball, and then a playoff season. You guys do something similar in NASCAR. NASCAR is the longest, most brutal season in motor racing, but then you’ve got a playoff at the end. How do you plan for a season? Do you have to be consistent through the whole season? Or do you have to peak for the playoffs?

Answer: It’s a little bit of both, right? You try to run well every week but yeah, obviously, the most important time is in the playoffs. You have to perform well through the year to get in the playoffs . . . that’s honestly what we did. We had a decent year, decent regular season. But when the playoffs came around, we just found great speed and stepped up our game and executed perfectly and were able to come away with a championship. So it’s a balancing act between the two.

Q: You’re like the Philadelphia Phillies in baseball — you’re good enough. You kind of hang around and then you peaked at the right time this year. You race for Roger Penske, for Penske Racing. Penske is a legend around here, It’s fun as the Detroit Grand Prix comes into this town – we spend a lot of time with (Penske drivers) like Josef Newgarden and some of his past drivers like Helio Castroneves. They’re impressive individuals. What do you think separates a Penske driver from the rest of the field? For folks who just saw your speech at the (NASCAR banquet), very eloquent speech, you guys seem like different cats.

A: Oh, I don’t know. I guess everyone’s different in their own way. I feel like when you drive for Roger, you act a certain way, right? You want to act like the atmosphere that you’re around, right? You become like the people around you, and you’re surrounded by good people. It rubs off on you for sure, especially when you’re a young kid getting in there, right? I was 19 when I came into the organization, and you kind of mold yourself after that. You want to be like those people, and be like RP. That’s the reason why . . . all the drivers are a little bit different and kind of all act like mini-Mr. Penskes of some kind – just because you want to be like that guy because he’s a special person . . . and a role model that you look up to.

Q: You also have a very special relationship with your father. You look across sports . . . Michael Jordan talks a lot about his father. Coco Gauff talks a lot about her family. Lewis Hamilton talks a lot about his father. How important was that relationship with your family growing up and becoming the racer you are today?

A: I think it’s huge. You know, I think family makes you. Growing up at the racetrack — seeing Dad race for a long time — I just wanted to be like that and do what he did. He taught me everything I know, (and I) trusted him because he’s been through the wringer, right? (He) was easily accessible for me to ask him about these things — or him to tell me about these things, no matter what it was. My mother and two sisters were amazing, supporting me growing up and lucky to have a good relationship with them to this very day.

Q: You have a very good relationship with Ford. We’re in the spectacular Ford headquarters — an iconic place for those of us who live in Detroit. It has to be special for you to be here and celebrate your (championship) What does that mean to represent a brand like Ford on a stage like NASCAR?

A: Well, it’s been fantastic. We’ve been with Ford for 10 years now, pretty much my whole professional life. (People) talk about the Ford family — they’re not joking, you know. You’re part of their family and I’ve been able to have lunch with Mr. Farley in the morning. Who gets to have breakfast with the head of your manufacturer company? It shows what what kind of a great group this is, what a great person Mr. Farley is to his racers. It’s not just me, it’s me and Cole Custer, Ben Rhodes, the off-road champions. It’s just amazing to know his passion — and really, all of Ford’s passion for racing and building cars. You understand the history behind Ford, right? You know what you’re racing for — who you’re representing — and you want to do well for them.

Q: Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. You’ve been in motorsports for a long time. Ford is one of those companies that really defines itself by motorsports, going all the way back to Le Mans in the 1960s. Now, Ford is going to Formula One. As you go out and talk to regular folks — which you do a lot in the course of a racing season — do you feel like that performance on track translates to the showroom?

A: I think it does. I think people . . . are very passionate about the brand of vehicle that they drive. That matters. There’s so many people who I meet who say: ‘I’ve been a Ford fan ever since I was so-and-so years old watching my favorite driver grow up driving a Ford. I’ll never root for another manufacturer.’ The hate for other manufacturers is huge (chuckles). Everybody’s like, ‘I can’t stand Toyotas’ or ‘I can’t stand Chevys, I’m a Ford guy my whole life.’ Meeting people like that (is) hilarious to me, and it just shows how passionate they are about motorsports. Whether it’s NASCAR, IndyCar, F1, they’re very, very protective of their manufacturer. I think it resonates like you said: ‘Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.'”

Q: You also walk the walk. You own Fords, you own a Ford Mustang. Talk about that experience: what’s a Ford like on road when you’re not racing cars?

A: I have a bunch of different Ford vehicles. I have a new Bronco. I have a Raptor R, I’m getting a Ranger Raptor, which I’m really excited about. I love those trucks, I have a Mustang, I have an ’85 Bronco. I had an ’88 F 150 for a while, that I finally had to sell. It was a junker.

Q: We need to get you off road with Loren Healy (Baja 1000 class winner) and do some truck racing. What kind of Mustang do you have and what do you like about it?

A: I have a GT350 R and I do love it. Ford’s always coming up with new and exciting things with any vehicle, right? But all the Mustang stuff they have going on right now is spectacular for me to see personally. That GT 350 R is a spectacular machine, and I don’t drive very often just because I don’t want to ruin it. It’s probably got 10,000 miles on it. It’s like a mini racecar. I need to take (it) on a track day, to see what it will do. I’m sure it’ll set some records.

Q: With you behind the wheel, I think it’d be great. There’s nothing like a flat-plane crank V-8 on a racetrack. Ryan, congratulations on a great year. And thanks for joining us.

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