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Ryan Blaney finished third in the September 8 Atlanta race, the first in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series 10-race playoffs. A great day, but surprisingly, not quite as good as the memorable spring event on the same 1.5-mile superspeedway, where he finished second in that history-making photo finish behind Daniel Suarez and just ahead of Kyle Busch in what will undoubtedly be one of the highlights from the season that fans talk about for years to come.
The fact that the driver finished third is a testament to his entire No. 12 team and further confirms why it is the reigning Cup Series champion. That’s because early in that third and final stage, the thought of finishing anywhere remotely close to the top 10 didn’t even cross the 30-year-old driver’s mind after Chris Buescher got into the left rear of his car, which sent the Team Penske car up the track for a blow on the right rear into the outside wall before getting hit in the driver’s side door by Martin Truex Jr. He was understandably unhappy.
“I got clobbered in the left-rear wheel, right-rear corner hit the wall,” Blaney said. “So I don’t [expletive] know. No information. What the [expletive] are we doing? Am I good? Not? Jesus Christ, man.”
“It’s pretty tough, man,” crew chief Jonathan Hassler told his upset driver. “Not going to lie. You know, you were trying to do the best you can without giving up track position. So I apologize for the lack of information, but it’s not exactly straightforward. So I’ll try and get that to you next time, just to be efficient.”
“I just need to know, like, I’m getting blown by,” Blaney answered. “There’s no way these guys are saving as much as me. I mean, I’m just trying to do the best I can to keep track position.”
Ryan Blaney Talked About Expressing Frustrations Over Radio
Ryan Blaney has shown throughout his career that he isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind during a race. It doesn’t matter who or what is the source of his frustration, the driver admitted before the May 19 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro that every time he presses the talk button on his steering wheel it is intentional and therapeutic.
“I mean, it’s always been the way that I’ve been my whole life,” he admitted. “I have a lot of my dad in me and my dad was the same way. Kind of a really quiet guy, but has a short — I wouldn’t necessarily say a short fuse, but just has to kind of let out his emotions quick and then you get over it.
“Like that’s how I get over things and not let them bother me. I just have to let it out. And people are like, ‘Well, don’t press the button.’ I’m like, ‘Well, you don’t understand. It’s hard not to press the button. You have to talk to somebody.’
“So, yeah, just a different, just competitive nature comes out, you know, when you’re doing what you love and I want to do well and I’m very passionate about it. Sometimes it boils over a little bit, but that’s how I get over things. And that’s how I move on to kind of look past what just happened.”
Blaney Results Prove What He’s Doing Is Working
It’s hard to argue with the results.
Blaney is not only the current Cup champ, but you look at the progress over the course of his nine full-time seasons in NASCAR’s top series and it’s impressive. In 2017, he won for the first time in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing car. It was the beginning of a streak of four consecutive seasons he would record a single win.
In 2021, his fourth at Team Penske, he changed the growing narrative about just winning once a year and won three times at Atlanta, Michigan and Daytona. He went winless in 2022 and then last year he won three times again, two of those coming during crunch time in the playoffs.
This year, just one race into the playoffs and Blaney’s winning pace is ahead of previous years with two wins at Iowa and Pocono. He should have had a third at Gateway but ran out of gas before taking the white flag.
His team regrouped after the accident and outburst in Stage 3 at Atlanta and rebounded. In addition to finishing third, his teammate and two-time champ Joey Logano won the race and advanced to the Round of 12. The Penske teams have proven over the course of the last two seasons that they can take their game to the next level when it matters most.
Based on that history and what the organization did at Atlanta, they are as much a threat to win the 2024 title as anyone.
Translation: don’t expect Blaney to change what has worked. Outbursts and colorful language included.
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