AVONDALE, Ariz. – Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney could not be happier that Sunday’s Championship 4 race is held in the Valley of the Sun at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway.
The 1.0-mile oval nestled in the vastly growing town of Avondale, Ariz., has often been one of the better race tracks for the third-generation racer. With his first appearance in the Championship 4 this weekend, Blaney hopes his impressive track records pay big dividends on Sunday afternoon and reward his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang team with their first NASCAR Cup Series championship.
“We’re plenty capable of winning the championship,” Blaney said during Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on Thursday afternoon. “The execution we’ve had has been pretty remarkable. I feel like we had the best speed and best races out of anybody in the Round of eight. You just hope to keep doing that. Our group can.
“This group is definitely poised to do it. We had a good shot at it last year. I think we learned from what kept us from winning a championship last year and have been able to apply it this year. Just have to go do our job Sunday.”
The High Point, N.C. native will eye his seven top-10 finish at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. While Blaney has not found Victory Lane, Blaney has finished runner-up in the past two races, including the Championship 4 race last November behind Team Penske and 2023 Cup Series champion Joey Logano.
Now, Blaney hopes to continue to build off his previous 15 career Phoenix starts to propel him above his 11.9 average finish, claim his fourth win of the 2023 Cup Series – and hoist his first NASCAR championship trophy.
“This track kind of fits what we do in this car especially,” explained Blaney. “Even in years past, we’ve been strong here in the older generation car. But especially this Next Gen car, we’ve been really strong. Had a great shot to win this thing in the comedown last year. Had a good shot to win it in the spring this year. Hopefully, you can bring that same speed and build on what you learned.”
If his prior Phoenix success wasn’t enough to bank on, his recent momentum boost in the Playoffs is.
After a rough opening to the Round of 12 at Texas Motor Speedway, Blaney won at Talladega Superspeedway in early October, automatically advancing him to the Round of 8.
Since then, the No. 12 team has been on fire, delivering a fifth-place finish and, more importantly, winning last weekend’s race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and propelling himself into the Championship 4.
Often enough, momentum has been the key to success in NASCAR, and Blaney welcomes the momentum for such a crucial race.
“Yeah, we definitely got some momentum,” Blaney said. “The job we’ve done in the last month has been pretty remarkable, something to be proud of. On our side, it wasn’t a secret we struggled in the summer. Feel like everything we were trying to get better just wasn’t working, right?
“That can get frustrating, but no one gave up at our group. Everyone beared down, they didn’t complain, get upset. They just did the work. They worked really hard to get where we need to be. That’s the culmination. It’s not like it happens overnight. These things take a lot of time. It took months this summer to get where we are now.
“I’m proud of that effort. But we definitely got good momentum. Hopefully, we can continue it for Sunday.”
Blaney credits the work of his Team Penske team for his success, noting that Phoenix Raceway fits into the team’s wheelhouse.
“But, yeah, whatever we do at our shop just kind of fits this place,” he added. “I feel like we’ve always done a really good job no matter what size track. If two different ends of the speedway are very different, we do a good job of making both pretty good.
I look at Texas, I look at Gateway, here is similar to that. We just do a good job at it, of figuring out what we need to be travel-wise, and setup-wise. Yeah, just fits kind of our thought process. That’s pretty nice. Hopefully, we can finally win one here. We’ve been close a couple times.”
Ahead of the biggest race of his NASCAR Cup Series career, Blaney said his week has been routine and he has been eager to get on the track grounds and get to work and be ready for Sunday’s 312-lap battle.
“I mean, honestly, Monday, Tuesday was really good, actually,” explained Blaney. “I enjoyed more going to the race shop and seeing everybody on Monday. We did our win toast on Tuesday with everybody. That’s always special, having not only the NASCAR folks, but INDYCAR, sports car there as well.
“Seeing all them, figuring out, supporting that we can go for a championship is massive, too, right? Even the other series. That part is the best to me. We got out yesterday, I’ve been able to enjoy it, I think. A lot of people have told me that, like, Hey, this weekend is what it is, but remember to enjoy it because it’s an opportunity that not a lot of people get. You get to race for a championship. You get to be one of the four drivers going for it.”
Knowing how hard making the Championship 4 is, Blaney reminded himself to be able to soak in the moments of the week and impending weekend, just in case – although it is not likely that he will never experience these vibes again.
“That part I’ve tried to keep in my mind, like, enjoy being here,” he said with a smile. “Try to take it all in.
You never know what’s going to happen, right? You could never be here again. You have to appreciate it while you can but at the same time don’t lose focus on your job, your task. There’s still a big task to do.
It’s been a pretty good week. I’ve really enjoyed it. All week, I’ve just been itching to get here. I wanted to get here and get going and keep riding this wave that we’ve been riding.”
With a championship on the line on Sunday at the sport’s pinnacle level, Blaney did not hide away that the drivers and teams are feeling pressure to perform and win the season’s biggest race. Blaney, however, said how you handle the pressure could be the difference in how well you execute your race on Sunday.
“I think a lot of it is,” sounded Blaney. “It’s like, how do you handle the pressure of the moment, right? I’ve always said, like, if someone tells there’s no pressure in these moments, they’re lying, right? There’s always pressure in these moments. This is what you do, this is what you live for, this is your livelihood. There’s hundreds of people back at the race shop that rely on you. It’s there.
“It’s how do you accept the pressure and use it for your benefit with your group. I feel like mental toughness is very important, especially throughout the race. Throughout this week, throughout the race, there’s going to come a time where not everything is going to go perfect. You’re not going to be leading the whole race compared to these other three guys. You’re going to have to figure out a way to get back to the front.”
Blaney admitted that he hasn’t thought what a Cup Series championship would mean to himself and his family, but should he capture his Cup Series championship, he said the moment would come full circle.
“I got asked about it earlier this week. That’s the only time I thought about it,” sounded Blaney.
“I don’t sit around and think about that. I mainly want to do it — obviously, my parents are going to be here. I mainly want to do it for them, right? I grew up watching Dad race. It’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to do this like he did. I know all the work he had to do to get me here, right? I saw all the sacrifices he and my mother made to get me to this point, to get started.
“It would be cool to come full circle for them. I think as a kid, right, your biggest thing you want to do when you’re a kid is make your parents proud. That would be the ultimate proud moment, I think.
“No, that would be just great. Yeah, the championship, my uncle Dale was there last week in Martinsville, he’s an All-Star champion. My dad is an Outlaw champion. My grandfather won tons of championships on dirt tracks. It would be cool to bring an asphalt championship to the Blaney family name. That would be nice. And someone to tell me I would be the first champion from Ohio. That’s even more motivation!”
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