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No. 12 Ryan Blaney had one heck of a finish to 2023. In November, Blaney won his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship. A few weeks later, just before Christmas, and with the snow-capped Cascade Mountains serving as backdrop, Blaney proposed to longtime girlfriend Gianna Tulio. A picture-perfect end to a breakout year.
Yet for all his accomplishments, Blaney is poised for even greater NASCAR success in 2024.
Ryan Blaney Turns Doubt to Determination
A third-generation racer, Blaney has been groomed for success in NASCAR from a young age. Maybe that’s why he was always especially hard on himself. The Ford driver was often quick to blame himself for why he and Team Penske hadn’t won in 2022. For example, at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Blaney was particularly critical of his mistakes.
“That is two weeks in a row I made a mistake and it cost us a good run. I couldn’t get back up through the field after that,” he said in October 2022. “It was an unfortunate end of the day again, due to a driver mistake again.”
Winning the NASCAR Cup Series Championship his eighth year in appears to have helped Blaney turn that doubt into determination. His legacy, and all the promise Blaney has shown from early in his racing career, was finally realized with that first Cup Series championship. Blaney went from self-doubt to mocking his doubters.
“I know Kyle Petty says that I never do anything, but hopefully I proved him wrong,” Blaney said on SiriusXM just after winning his first Bill France Cup in November 2023.
No doubt the self-imposed pressure from carrying the Blaney family legacy, driving for Team Penske, plus going winless in 2022 only fueled his determination.
Everything Left to Prove
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion made it clear when accepting the Bill France trophy that family “means everything.” Blaney talked about his father, uncle, and grandfather – all racers. He made it clear how important it was to him that both parents are still around, and how much he wanted to please his dad.
Dad is “who I wanted to be like,” Blaney said as he raised the trophy. Blaney is now a champion. He’s soon to be married.
On both a personal and professional level, 2024 looks to be a breakout year for Blaney. The Team Penske driver is determined to be a repeat champion. And there is no better time.
Kevin Harvick retired after 23 Cup seasons. Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin are nearing the twilight of their racing careers. The sport is ready for younger drivers to cement their legacy.
2024 will mark Blaney’s ninth season as a NASCAR Cup Series driver, and his seventh season driving for team owner Roger Penske. With 10 wins and a Cup championship, Blaney is not only proven, he has silenced the doubters – including himself.
One of only a few drivers to win the NASCAR Cup series, the NASCAR Xfinity series, and the truck series, Blaney achieved this all before turning 30. He’s ready to build his legacy.
Add it up. In 2023, Blaney won the Bill France Cup. He won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway – after a 59-race winless streak. He got engaged. There’s maybe nothing to prove, but every opportunity to seal his legacy. Plus, he has the full backing of his team.
As Roger Penske said right after Blaney delivered the first back-to-back Cup championships for Penske, “Ryan is the champion. But think about his position in the garage area with other teams and other drivers. He’s a champion with them, too.”
Blaney tells his followers to “live the best that you can.” For 2024, that should prove most true for himself.
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