{"id":32105,"date":"2024-01-24T19:54:48","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T23:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=32105"},"modified":"2024-01-24T19:54:48","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T23:54:48","slug":"qa-ryan-blaney-on-winning-his-first-nascar-title-and-working-with-ford-penske","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/qa-ryan-blaney-on-winning-his-first-nascar-title-and-working-with-ford-penske","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Ryan Blaney on winning his first NASCAR title and working with Ford, Penske"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dearborn<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Ryan Blaney\u00a0won his first career NASCAR championship<\/a>\u00a0in November by passing contender Kyle Larson in the final laps at Phoenix Raceway to finish second, giving Team Penske back-to-back Cup titles.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This interview has been edited for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/figure>\n
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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<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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 \u2014 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?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong>\u00a0It’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.<\/p>\n

Q: You’re like the Philadelphia Phillies in baseball \u2014 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, 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.<\/p>\n