“Anyone can be fast” – The evolution of NASCAR Cup champ Ryan Blaney

Blaney, the reigning Cup Series champion, picked up his second victory of the 2024 season on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, giving him consecutive multiple win seasons for the first time in his career.

While Blaney hasn’t been a frequent winner since his full-time Cup debut in 2016, he has slowly developed into a regular contender, with five of 12 career wins coming in the last 44 races, including his first series title.

What Blaney has discovered since first appearing in NASCAR national series competition in 2012 is being fast will get you noticed, but it’s not always the most important element to long-term success.

“I feel like when you’re young and you’re getting into it, all you care about is pushing the gas pedal down and you lose focus on the end goal and the task at hand,” Blaney said following his win Sunday. “I feel as you get older, it’s easier to become smarter about things, of looking at the bigger picture, how you approach weekends.

“Maybe you don’t put up the fastest lap out there, but you race really well over 400, 500 miles. I’ve tried to keep the same speed that I’ve had for a while, but also try to mold your mind into thinking that’s not everything that matters any more.

“Anyone can be fast. But can you put a whole race together and can you look at the end goal of where you want to be with 100 miles to the end of the race? I’ve really worked hard on trying to do that, trying to become that guy.”

Sunday’s win was a good example of Blaney and his No. 12 Penske Ford team playing ‘the long game’ and having it pay off.

Blaney’s team had him pit before the end of Stage 2, giving up stage points for the chance of better track position to start the final stage, after much of the rest of the field pit during the break.

His team called Blaney into pit under a caution on lap 115 of 160 – with the rest of the field – knowing he would likely be a little short on fuel if the race stayed green. His pit crew got him off pit road second, but he inherited the lead when Kyle Larson and three others were penalized for speeding.

Three cautions in the final 38 laps helped Blaney and a few others save the needed fuel to make it to the finish and he skillfully held off a late charge from Denny Hamlin to secure the win.

“We kind of found out early that our car was good enough to win the race, it was a matter of getting there and getting to be able to restart on the front two rows,” Blaney said. “So, we threw away stage points all day just to kind of set us up for the end of the race.

“You hate giving away stage points, but when it all works out for you, that’s fantastic. Ninety percent of the plans you make go to hell. It’s nice that 10 percent of the time it goes to your plan. This worked out perfectly for us.”

Being a champion

It’s clear Blaney has become more comfortable and seasoned, both as a driver and a representative of the sport he grew up in, particularly since winning his championship.

He’s also keenly aware, success isn’t all about who sits behind the steering wheel.

“I’ve had a lot of help along the way, which has been really great for me. Jonathan (Hassler, his crew chief) has been amazing to work with the last two and a half years. I have a really good group behind me,” Blaney said.

“It’s a product of a great team working together. I want them to be recognized because they do such a great job. It takes a village to make a race team successful.”

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang

Photo by: Danny Hansen / NKP / Motorsport Images

Unlike many others, Blaney had the benefit of a family well-versed in racing behind him, with his father, Dave, a long-term veteran in the Xfinity and Cup series.

Talent is what shines for NASCAR’s most successful drivers, but experience – not just on the track but also in life – has proven just as important to Blaney.

“This sport is wild when you get thrown into it. I was lucky I grew up around it, kind of saw my dad do it, kind of saw how the process was,” he said. “Until you’re thrown into it, you don’t know how it’s going to be, how you’ll handle things.

“Like, I think that’s the biggest thing is appreciate what you’re doing because it’s a cool thing to do. At the end of the day, it’s a job and it’s a hard job. When things are going great, rainbows and sunshine. When things go bad – there’s a lot of them.

“It’s how do you get over those and focus on what you can do better as a human being and as a competitor. I feel like I do that a little bit better as I’ve gotten older.”

Having adapted his mindset already at 30 years old, Blaney’s future looks increasingly limitless.