Ryan Blaney enters the Round of 12 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway holding fifth place in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings, sitting 19 points above the cut line. The Team Penske driver is aiming for a significant result at New Hampshire, with hopes that the upcoming weekend could mark a turning point for both his season and his playoff ambitions. The focus keyword, Ryan Blaney NASCAR New Hampshire, fits front-and-center as he looks to capitalize on past experience and current momentum at a venue where consistent speed has not always translated into top finishes.
Blaney Reflects on Strategy and Challenges at Bristol
Blaney entered New Hampshire buoyed by a strong showing at Bristol, where he finished fourth and contended as one of the fastest cars throughout the event. He discussed the complexities of the Bristol night race and unique tire challenges:
“I was proud walking out of Bristol of our effort with a fourth. I kind of thought we were a top five car all night. I thought we had a shot to win. There were a couple other guys that I thought we were on par with. I feel like the 54, honestly I thought he was the best car, and the 20 got really good and just kind of the way that things fell, but I was proud of our night. We did what we discussed before going into the weekend of, ‘hey, let’s try and maximize the first two stages to where we lock in and then we can be aggressive to the end of the night in the final stage’ and we were able to do that and win a stage and almost win another and put together a good night. The tire thing was just kind of learning under fire type of situation. I don’t think we thought the tires were going to do what they did. We discussed it after practice and in our team meeting like, ‘I don’t think they’re gonna degrade’ like they did, but the temperature thing caught everybody off-guard to where when the track temp was low that there was just no way that the rubber goes into the racetrack. It kind of just grinds off the tire. I realized something was off around lap 25 when I saw guys pitting already and guys super slow. I’m like, ‘Man, they must be cording tires.’ I was probably running 80 percent the first 25 laps, so I think I benefitted from starting up front and just kind of able to mind my pace, just like a normal run, and then it benefitted us on the back end. Then it was a big strategy game after that. Jonathan had his work cut out for him and figuring out, ‘OK, we have x amount of tires. There are x amount of laps left. How many laps do we need to run on a set, roughly?’ And he was keeping me updated on that all night like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna have to run 60 laps on a set the way stands now, so just be mindful of that getting going and manage the best you can,’ and then trying to work on your car through the night, too. It was one of those nights to where you were trying to learn and you go and can you do it better than everybody else, and I feel like we did a good job. We did what we needed to do and ended up with a good finish and now move on to this weekend.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Competitive Approach and Respect on Track
Asked about his approach towards aggressive racing, Blaney emphasized the importance of maintaining respect on the racetrack, an ethos passed down from his father:
“I don’t know. There’s always this discussion about it’s been brought up specifically about me like, ‘Hey, do you think guys take advantage of you because you race a certain way and maybe they feel like they can take more of an advantage of you.’ And I don’t know. My dad taught me at a young age when I was getting going that you give respect and you hope to get it back. I’ve tried to be really respectful, no matter what it is – when I was a rookie and as I’ve been in it for awhile I try to be respectful, and it’s just not in my nature to be the rough guy. That’s just not how I was raised. That’s not how my dad taught me to race. It’s not how the guys I grew up racing late models around raced. We all respected one another. Yeah, if you just kind of get racing hard with somebody, well then you put that in your brain and maybe you run them harder. I’m not one that’s gonna go out and intentionally turn someone around or things like that. Matt Kenseth actually had a very good quote. He was on Dale Jr.’s podcast a couple years ago and he was like, ‘I don’t really like running into guys, but I really don’t like getting run into, so I would just hit you twice as hard and that’s the end of it.’ I guess I’ve just always thought that way. I talked to you Friday out at Bristol and I think the best thing you can do is, ‘OK, this guy seems to need to rough me up to get by me or beat me.’ I think the biggest statement you can make is, ‘I’m just gonna beat you clean, and I’m never gonna tough you.’ That’s a bigger statement. I don’t need to resort to that stuff to drive by you and beat you. That’s just my mindset and how I’ve always been as far as behind the wheel and how I like to race people.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Lighthearted Moments Amid Intense Competition
Among the serious tone of playoff racing, Blaney appreciated a humorous moment that occurred at the previous event involving his young nephew:
“That was funny. I was laughing. The story behind that. My two nephews were at the race. They’re four and six. They were in the bus beforehand and Gianna, my wife, has a radio in the bus where she can listen. Neither of us knew that the button worked. I thought it was an obsolete button to where they have that as far as they can make the button not work if you push it, but apparently it does. The four-year-old was talking to me before the race. He’s like, ‘What’s that thing with Aunt Gianna’s name on it?’ I was like, ‘It’s a radio to where Aunt Gianna can listen to my racing.’ And he was like, ‘Oh, like a walkie-talkie.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, kind of like a walkie-talkie,’ so I guess he took that and remembered it. He’s a smart kid. He figured it out and turned it on and pushed the button and gave me a little bit of motivation. That was pretty cool. It was at a great time. It was under caution. There was not much going on and I got a real good kick out of it. We all did. All of my team got a good kick out of it, so that was funny, and I knew right away who it was. When he called me Uncle Ryan I was like, ‘Alright, that’s either Bodie or Louie, and I figured it was Bodie, the younger one, because I talked to him about this radio, so I got a good laugh out of that. It was a point in the race where there were a lot of cautions after cautions, so that was a nice moment of levity of just a little break. So, yeah, it was funny. We’ve got to get that button worked on to where no one pushed it on accident, but he’s a smart kid. I wouldn’t have known how to do that at four years old, but he figured it out.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
The Importance of Team Camaraderie and Recent Form
In the midst of a successful run of top-10 finishes, Blaney credited his performance and that of Team Penske to a strong sense of unity:
“I feel like our group just keeps getting better and better every year. I pretty much have the same guys I’ve had from that championship year and just that camaraderie and working together year after year, week after week, everyone gets closer and just build that bond and I’ve been really happy with how they’ve been performing. Over-the-wall, mechanics and how they’ve been communicating. Jonathan and the engineers with myself, I feel like we’ve gotten into this good rhythm and that stuff just grows over time. I just think we’re executing the way that we need to. I feel like our mindset is just in a good place right now, where everyone is extremely confident in themselves and their ability and they believe it, and that stuff definitely helps. It’s the belief that we can do it. We’ve had the belief that we can do it the last two to three years. They’re poised to do it and it’s really fun to be part of a group like that, that has that mindset. Everyone is clicking together. Everyone has each other’s backs. If I make a mistake, they’re right there to support me. If they make a mistake, I support them. That’s just how a team works, so I just think we are a pretty well-oiled machine. I feel like all year our team has been performing really well. The string of DNFs that we had was unfortunate there in the beginning and middle part of the year, but I always felt like we were doing a good job. I never tried to let anyone stray away from that, even when things aren’t really on your side it’s how are we doing as a team and they’ve been 100 percent all year. I think they’re in a good spot. Everybody’s mindset is right and our cars are, I think, pretty close to where they need to be, so we just have to keep chipping away at it. We’re in it for the long haul. We’ve got seven more weeks of this thing and hopefully we can make another run at it. That’s all you can do, but I couldn’t be happier with the group I’ve got around me. I’m really lucky and fortunate to have a great group of guys to go to battle with every week.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
When pressed on light-hearted superstitions around his improved form, Blaney simply noted,
“I won’t say there’s a direct link between the two, but maybe it’s something – maybe.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Reflections on New Hampshire’s Unique Demands
New Hampshire Motor Speedway has brought both promise and frustration for Blaney in recent years. He analyzed the key to success at this challenging circuit:
“I feel like New Hampshire has been one of those tracks to where we have run well and just not really finished where we deserved. I felt really good there last year. We were running up front before the rain. We were running second during the rain and got turned around there on one of the last restarts, but I think just trying to stay in the mix. The first part of it is trying to have a car that runs up towards the front. I am happy that New Hampshire has gotten a playoff race. It’s always been that way for a while, and I was a part of a couple New Hampshire races in the playoffs and I’m happy it’s back because they do a great job and the crowd up there is always fantastic. But I think navigating the turn three bump is always pretty big. The 22 group was able to go test there, do a tire test there about a month ago, and they thought that went really well, so hopefully we can learn some stuff from those guys – what they figured out up there and apply it in our own way and see. It’s been a good place for us. Hopefully, we can get the finish that I feel like we deserve there and just try to stay out of trouble.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Asked what stands out most about New Hampshire, both the region and the event, Blaney shared:
“I love the area itself. I feel it’s really pretty and there’s something about the northeast that I really enjoy. Now you get into September and the leaves are changing, so I always enjoy the looks of it driving to the racetrack from the airport. And then I feel like the track itself just puts on a good race. It’s pretty wide, especially for whatever reason now like the last two or three years we’ve been up in that fourth lane a good bit, so that adds another lane of racing, which is always good. I feel like it’s wide enough to where the cars there have places to go and that’s what this car is really good at, like when there are multiple lanes, like three or four lanes, this car will put on really good races. And then the crowd atmosphere there is always fantastic. We have tons of fans in the northeast. You see it when we go there. You see it when we go to Dover, Watkins Glen, there are a lot of great fans that love motorsports and love NASCAR. That definitely makes the atmosphere pretty fun, and then you throw a playoff race in there and it’s even more ramped up – everyone’s weekend – so just everything about the area, the racetrack I’ve always enjoyed it and the people there have always been really great to me. That definitely adds an element to it.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Adjusting to Tire Compounds and Tire Management
For Blaney and Team Penske, preparing for the new Goodyear tire compound at New Hampshire has been a focal point:
“I think this tire that Goodyear has been bringing to these places, that they’re bringing to New Hampshire, always the goal is fall off – trying to make your car last for a while. It’s a different type. At Richmond, I thought it was a really good tire. It added a lot of fall off. You could kind of make it upset and you pay the penalty for it late – different than a Bristol type situation, which that’s kind of an outlier, but I think what they’re gearing for and what they found out was just more fall off like they’ve gotten at a couple other places with this combination, and I enjoy that. I think that’s the way that it should be. Goodyear has done a good job of continuing to experiment and try to find ways to help the short track tire pay a penalty if you’re rude to it early on in a run and it really shows the flaws in your car when you get 30-plus laps on the tires – maybe less than that. I expect more fall off, more tire management to go on and I feel like that’s when you always see a little bit more of comers and goers, so that’s the mindset at least going into the weekend, and then we’ll see how it is on Saturday during practice and then as you get rolling through the race. But, fall off is always the key and I think we’re gonna get more of that.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Maintaining Momentum and Pursuing Playoff Goals
Blaney acknowledged the value of maintaining form as the playoffs progress and avoiding past issues with DNFs:
“Take it when you can get it. I look back at the years that we got really good as an organization later in the year and there were reasons behind that. We had a lot of changes to the race car that it took us a while to get our arms wrapped around. In ‘23 we had a little bit different body. In ‘24 we had a different nose that it was tough for us to find the balance of the car and we finally did at the two-thirds mark of the season, and then this year there was really no changes with the race car, so we had a lot of good notes that we had from ‘24 and we were able to apply them. I feel like our speed has been really solid all year, so that I feel like plays a big factor in it. When you don’t have a big change in the offseason that you have to figure out going into next year, but you take it when you can get it. I’m happy with the way we’ve been performing and you just try piece by piece get a little bit better week to week. The Toyotas are really strong. The last three weeks you can’t take that away from them. They’ve been incredibly fast and all of the teams have been executing really well, but I think we’re really close to where we need to be. I have confidence that we can get on that level. We’ve been doing a good job of getting to where we need to be, and now it’s just a matter of executing and finding little things here and there that can continue to catapult you along.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Influence of Brad Keselowski and the BKR Driver Pipeline
Blaney reflected on the notable presence of Brad Keselowski’s influence throughout the playoffs, especially as half of the remaining playoff drivers came through his former team:
“I saw that also this week and I think it just speaks a lot on Brad’s knowledge of finding drivers that he thinks have potential to have a solid Cup career. I’ll never forget when Brad asked me to drive his trucks for him in 2012, the second part of 2012, and eventually at the same time led to the Penske opportunity running some Nationwide stuff, and led to this today. Here we are 13 years later. It’s pretty amazing, honestly, when I sit back and look at it, but I think it speaks a lot to Brad and the opportunities that he gave a lot of great young kids that, hey, you never know where they’re gonna end up. You take a chance on somebody and it’s pretty cool when it works out, so Brad has a huge part of a lot of our careers and that was a lot of fun. I loved my years at BKR. I loved winning races for them and loved the success that they had when I wasn’t driving those trucks anymore – a lot of good drivers have come from there, so that’s all Brad. That’s all Brad’s eye for who he wants to give a shot to and it’s pretty cool that a lot of drivers today that are winning races and in the playoffs came from that stable. It speaks a lot to the people that were there, mainly Brad Keselowski.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Changes and Continuity in Practice Sessions
Discussing preferred practice formats, Blaney shared a fondness for extended practice time over the shorter 20-minute sessions standard in recent years:
“If I’m gonna pick, I like the extended practice – the 50 minutes. You get a couple sets of tires. You’re able to go to the garage and try a few different things. They do that Champ Weekend, and then if they have a new track that’s what they have. That’s what I like, personally. I think it just gives people a better chance to understand where their cars are at and play with some more stuff than you normally could with a 20-minute practice. That would be my vote. I don’t know where it’s gonna go, but that is my favorite form of practice. Before COVID there was always Friday practice for an hour, qualifying and then you had two practice sessions on Saturday. Then you raced Sunday and that changed a lot during COVID. That was a lot of practice – three sessions of an hour, let’s say – and then I think what we have now is pennies on the dollar, so I think a little happy medium ground is the 50-minute, two sets of tires, can go in the garage, that would be my vote.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Team Preparation and Playoff Routine
Blaney described his approach to the playoff schedule, emphasizing consistency and mental preparation:
“I wouldn’t say my schedule is entirely different as far as my routine of going to the shop, meetings, prepping. My at-home life is very similar. I try to keep it the same. I don’t do a ton of extra curricular activities during the regular season. If there is something here or there, go catch a concert or something, I try and keep that. I think that’s important. I’ve always spoken on how it’s important, to me at least, to separate the two and times. I try to keep one day off a week, like Thursdays are usually my day off to where I don’t really think about racing. I try to do all my work Monday to Wednesday, have a Thursday day off, and then Friday morning the main focus is on the race weekend. That doesn’t change for me. I try to keep all of that pretty similar and find a routine that I enjoy, it works, this is a good schedule and then I go. There are a lot more doctor appointments nowadays, but that’s been all year, so it’s very similar.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Game Plan for the Next Round
Entering the upcoming races, Blaney highlighted the critical importance of focusing within the team, without distractions from competitors:
“Just business as usual, just trying to do all of the work that you can and trying to be as prepared as possible through the week and try to just do our job on the weekends and try to worry about yourself. I feel it’s easy to get focused on other people, where they’re at, and you have to be mindful of that a little bit in a sense, but can you just focus on your group of people and maximize your weekend. I think we do a good job of that of just blinders and figuring out how do we do the best job that we can, whether that’s through the week or on the race weekend or race day. I think that’s just what it is. How can you go put together 10 good weeks and worry about yourself. If you worry about yourself, everything else will fall in place, so just try to execute the best we can.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Approaching the Unique Challenge of the Roval
Looking ahead to various circuits, including the Roval at Charlotte, Blaney pressed the importance of executing amidst wild conditions and unpredictable cutoff implications:
“That race has turned into more of a normal road course now because everyone is a little bit more used to it. You kind of understand what to expect. That race is pretty interesting being a cutoff race because you’re gonna have teams that need to go win, that have had one or two bad races and they’re way below the cut line. You’re probably gonna have a couple guys that have already won that are in, that are just focused on winning the race. And then you’re gonna have a group of guys that have to gather a lot of points for the cushion about the cut line, or they have to gather a lot of points to get above the cut line. That seems to always be the trend, so it’s always interesting how that race plays out with the stages and things like that, and then trying to stay out of some messes. I feel like, honestly, that place has put on a pretty good show since it started in 2018 and it’s just turned into a normal road course race again. It’s just like everything, you try to go execute through the weekend, try to stay out of trouble, try to gain as many points as you can, and just race it to where you’re currently at in the playoff standings, but it does get pretty wild. The restarts into one are always pretty crazy. That new corner that they added last year, I think it’s seven, that goes onto the turn one banking, that got pretty chaotic last year, so it’s like, ‘How do you navigate through that?’ I’ve enjoyed that race a lot and I’ve always had decent runs there. Hopefully, we can go and be in a good spot to where we don’t have to throw a Hail Mary in that race, but if you do, then that’s what you’ve got to go do.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Anticipation for the IndyCar and NASCAR Doubleheader
As part of Team Penske’s broad motorsports involvement, Blaney shared his excitement for Phoenix hosting both the IndyCar and NASCAR races next year:
“I love it. I was really excited that they announced that. I have a super close relationship with the IndyCar guys. We’re all under the same building and we all root each other on. McLaughlin was out in Phoenix when I won my championship. He just came out and wanted to support and it was a lot of fun. It just speaks to how much we support each other, so I’m looking forward to that. I loved when we had the doubleheader with them at Indy, just kind of being right there and going over and hanging out and watching practice in their box and stuff like that. That was cool. I think it’s gonna be fantastic, and I like that IndyCar is going back to Phoenix. It’s been a while since they’ve run in Phoenix and I think it will put on a really good show. I’m looking forward to that in the spring and it’ll be fun to watch those guys run at least six seconds faster than us around that place. I’m looking forward to going and standing in one and two as those guys are just hauling butt around there. That will be pretty amazing to see, so, yeah, I think it’s great for both series – IndyCar and on the NASCAR side.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Managing Unpredictable Weather in New Hampshire
Blaney addressed the challenge of rapidly changing weather at New Hampshire, noting,
“You just monitor the weather throughout the week. I think it’s gonna be low to mid-seventies out there this weekend, which is fantastic, but you never know what’s gonna happen and never know how it’s gonna change, but I think last year with that race there was a rain storm. I can’t remember if it popped up out of nowhere, but we knew it was coming. I think when we started the day it was like, ‘No rain,’ but it can change dramatically. You’re just always monitoring that. That’s one thing we can’t control is the weather and things like that, so you just kind of take it in stride and knowing that in that part of the country it can change, so you just always keep a little bit closer of an eye on it than what you would maybe if you were out in Phoenix or Vegas, where you’ve kind of got what you’ve got.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Looking Forward to a Playoff Breakthrough at New Hampshire
When considering where he has the best chance to win in the next three races, Blaney answered:
“New Hampshire. That would be ideal. I feel like we’ve run good enough there to where we can contend for one. I would say New Hampshire and then we’ll go from there. We’ll see what we can do this weekend, but that would be obviously a nice one to win.”
– Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Driver.
Overall, the upcoming weekend at New Hampshire presents Ryan Blaney and Team Penske with a significant opportunity. Building on recent improvements and a strong support system, Blaney will look to convert his past speed at the track into a breakthrough playoff victory. His emphasis on tire management, team cohesion, and calm focus in the face of both on-track drama and off-track unpredictability will be crucial as he continues his push toward the next stage of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
