Will ‘Penske Perfect’ Mantra Net Blaney Second Cup Title?

Ryan Blaney (Peter Casey/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – For the last two seasons no matter what’s stood in his way, Ryan Blaney has made the Championship 4 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

This year, the 2023 Cup Series champion is looking to make it a third consecutive appearance.

Blaney is coming off of a strong end to a regular season which was topped off by winning at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway last week. In a season where he has two wins, with his other coming at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in June, he is eyeing a return to November prominence.

Does he believe he can make that happen?

“You’ve got to [Phoenix] there first. It’s a gauntlet to get there. Everyone thinks it’s easy to go and win. You’ve got to go through nine weeks of hell to get there,” said Blaney. “It’s tough, but I do think it’s nice to have all three of our cars and [Team Penske affiliate Josh Berry] in [the postseason], so it’s just how we execute week in and week out through the rounds and how to minimize mistakes and not put ourselves in a hole.

“I like where our group is at, our company as a whole, with pace, people and preparation,” he added. “Then you just hope you can execute when the day comes and try to just take it one race at a time. That’s all you can do.”

Despite having seven DNF’s this season, tied for the most in the series, Blaney has balanced that out with 10 top fives and 14 top 10s – ranked third-highest in the field in those two categories.

“One thing I’ve been really happy about this year as opposed to [the last two years is our pace]. Back then and through the early summer [portions], our pace was just really not where it needed to be, and that was with some car changes,” said Blaney.  “It took us a while to get our arms around it, but this year I’ve been really happy with our pace all year.

“I feel like we’ve had super-fast cars, been executing really well, and we’ve been continuing to get better.”

Blaney said that his team is mentally tough, and that’s the culture they have established throughout the last couple of seasons competing for championships. That is something they have relied on, due the early ups and downs of races where they’ve underperformed or crashed early.

That also factors into the 31-year-old’s approach each week. He tries to stay consistent to prevent mistakes that can turn costly in the postseason. Those things factor into Blaney’s evaluation of his team.

“Our strengths right now are that our pace has been really good, for one. I feel like our execution has been really good. Our pit crew has gotten to where they need to be. The communication within our team through the weeks and on the weekends has been great as well,” said Blaney. “I feel like this group has been more united than we’ve ever been and it keeps getting better each year.

“I don’t really think this team has a ton of weaknesses. It’s just kind of how you go through races. It’s about how you handle situations, and this team is really strong both on the track and bonded together off the track,” he added. “I think you have those couple things, you do all the work you can and try to be as prepared as you can and then just go out there, run and whatever happens, happens so we’ll see.”

Another thing the Hartford Township, Ohio, native has tried to build is a short-term memory. With each round of the playoffs featuring different challenges, including a points reset every three races, the goal is to not let a setback derail the entire postseason effort.

“I try to forget things really quickly and try to take my mind off of that stuff and learn quickly and move on quickly. If you don’t learn anything, like if you make a mistake and you move on, well then you’re probably going to make that same mistake again … so I always try to tell myself here over the last handful of years, hey, ‘If something bad happens that race day, whether it’s a mistake by yourself or just circumstances, you can contemplate on it for the night when you get home, but when you open your eyes the next morning you’re over it.’”

That’s the mental toughness that both Blaney and his team want to emphasize this postseason. They know there isn’t an odds-on favorite to win the title, that everyone is a contender and not everything will come easy.

“I’ve worked really hard at trying to do that, but I don’t really have a ritual. That’s just what I find helps me,” he said. “Be upset about it all you want for that night, but wake up the next day you better be over it and let your brain reset.”

Ryan Blaney celebrates with a burnout Saturday night after winning at Daytona Int'l Speedway. (Scotte Sprinkle/Motorsports Hotspot photo)

With his Daytona win, Blaney said his No. 12 team does have momentum, and they feel confident headed into each race of the playoffs.

He did acknowledge though, that the only similar track in the postseason is Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in the semifinal round, meaning the events before that will pose different challenges.

Due to those realities, Team Penske as an organization will rely on the people within that make them strong. The organization has won the Cup Series championship for the last three years.

For Blaney to secure his second Cup Series title, and Team Penske’s fourth straight since 2022, there must be continuity while maintaining his mental stability.

“It comes down to people. [Team owner] Roger Penske has always said ‘It’s all about the people that you have with you.’ He’s pretty good at knowing who is good, what he wants and who he wants working for him,” Blaney said. “[Penske] is full of dedicated and smart people, and everyone understands what the end goal is and how we get there and how we work harder than everybody else.”

Blaney has three top 10s in the Next Gen era at Darlington, and he recently captured his best finish of fifth back in April. With his recent stretch of good form, he hasn’t finished worse than eighth since Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway on July 20.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about the people that we have around us and around our group at the race shop. They make it happen.”

Coverage of the Cup Series playoff opener, the 76th Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, is set for Sunday, Aug. 31 on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.