Playoff Pressure? No Win, No Problem For Ryan Blaney
The playoffs are all about dealing with pressure. The pressure to perform, the pressure to block out the noise, and keeping your composure. Pressure is something that Blaney knows all-too well. The third-generation driver knew the expectations that were put on his shoulder even before he strapped in a stock car. The Ohio native has never led the pressure of being the son of a Cup Series driver get to him.
Ryan began racking up race wins at an early age, moving up the ranks before finally reaching the Cup Series. His first full-time season came in 2016, where he recorded three top-five finishes with the legendary Wood Brothers team. He topped that the following year with his first career win at Pocono, the last victory to date for the No. 21 car.
When Blaney joined Team Penske in 2018, the bar of expectations rose yet again. He performed well, and won his first race for Roger on the Charlotte road course. He has shown consistency throughout his career, winning at least one race since 2017 and recording 11 top-five finishes in each of the last three seasons.
Now the young Penske driver finds himself in a different position. Blaney remains winless with just four races remaining in the regular season. Because of his consistency though, he remains in the playoffs based on points. While it is entirely possible for him to make it on points, the driver of the No. 12 is hungry for the win that would guarantee his playoff spot.
Technically speaking, Blaney has actually won a Cup race this season, it just didn't pay any points. Back in May, he took the checkered flag in the All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway. While they didn't receive any points or a playoff ticket, Blaney believes it was a good morale boost for the team. They have been so close to victory a number of times this season.
Luck has not been on their side this season, for whatever reason. Still, the team continues to dig in and execute each weekend as a race contender. Blaney has proven to be an exceptional road course racer, and it looked as though he might finally get that elusive victory last weekend at Indianapolis. Then, it happened.
The race was headed for an overtime finish, with Blaney lining up on the front row during the final restart. As the entire field descended upon Turn 1, drivers began to beat and bang for position. The end result was Blaney being spun while running in 2nd place. His race and his opportunity went down the drain in one frustrating moment.
His 26th place result not indicative of his performance, Blaney did not hold back in his post-race interviews.
"That was a case of just getting wrecked. That’s all people do at the end of these things. They just dive in there and fucking wreck you. I don’t know who shoved who and I don’t care. It’s just a matter of getting through on the restart, but apparently that’s a hard thing to ask because people just run over each other. I didn’t even have a shot, I just got wiped out. I'm pissed off about it, and I have every damn right to be."
With Indianapolis now in the rear view mirror, Blaney has now turned his attention to Michigan, which offers better memories, and a sense of optimism.
Blaney enters this weekend as the defending race winner. He may have only led 8 laps in that race last year, but they included the final lap. Ryan was able to hold off a charging William Byron, crossing the finish line just 0.077 seconds ahead of the Hendrick Motorsports driver. It was the closest finish in the 104 races at the speedway.
That was the second victory of the 2021 season for Blaney. He already had a playoff spot locked up but that win also gave his team a serious momentum boost heading into the post season. The following week, he won at Daytona, then started on pole the week after that at Darlington. When it comes to Michigan and Daytona this year, Blaney doesn’t believe these races will play out the same way.
"I feel like this group can go out and win any week. It’s just a matter of putting all the pieces together. I know we won at those two places last year, but completely different scenarios, different car at both of the tracks. At Daytona, these things draft way different. At Michigan, they are driving way different than what they did last year, so I don’t view those as two of the best weekends. I try to keep the mindset of we can go out and win any week."
"I think it’s going to be a lot different than last year. It was almost like a speedway race last year, essentially, with the high downforce stuff. I’m not really sure what to expect. It’s obviously a big weekend with Ford being right in their backyard. I think it’ll be a good race, that’s for sure, with this car. We’ve seen it this year. This car puts on really good shows at mile-and-a-half and two-mile tracks and I expect nothing less."
Blaney comes into today’s race as the highest-ranked winless driver (15th) in the standings, 25 points ahead of Martin Truex Jr on the cutoff line.
Both Blaney and Truex are fully capable of winning at least one of these final four regular season races. That is something they are well aware of, and thinking about during the race. "Well the easiest but hardest thing to do is win, but we’ve been trying all year. Hopefully we can get it done and not have to worry about it, but we realize that we’re still points racing Martin for the final spot."
"You don’t want to be on the bubble if there’s no new winners, and obviously you want to try and win the race, so it’s a balancing act. So it’s kind of situational, I feel like. We talk about all these scenarios throughout the week and in our pre-race meetings, but at the end of the day the main focus is trying to win the race and just doing all you can to try and make that one happen.”
As far as how the team goes about that strategy, Blaney will let his crew chief Jonathan Hassler make that call.
"Jonathan and I talk a lot about that. You have all of these plans before the race, but a lot of it is kind of where you qualify. If you’re qualified towards the front and you think your car is really fast and you have a chance to win, you might stay on that strategy and try to stay up towards the front and just cycle back to the front all the time. At the end of the day it’s Jonathan’s call and what he thinks is best. But he trusts me enough to where I have input too."
In addition to the obvious playoff birth, a win today could provide his team with another wave of momentum going into the postseason. Ironically enough, he starts in 26th today – the same position where he finished last weekend.
Even though he was frustrated after the race at Indianapolis, Blaney understands the mentality of his competitors. "You look at all the great teams and drivers who could win in this series. That’s why you’ve seen people be so aggressive at the end of these races for wins. You have to do it, especially when you have so many winners. You cannot pass up your opportunity."
"I don’t like roughing people up or moving people out of the way, but you have to get physical. You can’t afford to not be physical and give up a shot to win a race. It’s just one of those things where people are so aggressive now, and you have to be. It’s one of those situations where if you aren't, you might not ever get that chance again and you might miss out on the playoffs."
As these final races wind down, Blaney might have to take his own advice if he wants a shot at a championship.
