Blaney finds solace in Team Penskes 1-2 finish as he reflects on his season
11/13/2024 01:30 AM
Ryan Blaney climbed out of his No. 12 Team Penske Ford on Phoenix Raceway pit road Sunday and took a few minutes to himself, then hugged his fiancé Gianna and shook hands with his team — clearly exhausted mentally and physically after racing to a mere .330-seconds — the blink of an eye — away from a second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship.
It hurt.
Only NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson has won back-to-back titles — five consecutive from 2006-2010 — in the last 26 years of competition at NASCAR‘s highest level.
"Obviously you want to win, and we had a shot,” Blaney said afterward. "I just couldn‘t really do much. When I got there, coming from that far back, I burned everything I had off of it. So yeah, just thanked my guys, was proud of their effort all season. Said sorry it didn‘t work out for you this year, but proud of the effort.
"Obviously you want to win, but just didn‘t quite happen for us today.”
The runner-up showing was tough in the moment, but Blaney is as cool as it gets, providing perspective in the good times and in the tough trials. He proved again this season he is as clutch as they come — for the second year serving up a walk-off home run, of sorts, to win at Martinsville, Va. It gave him the championship bid after being ranked below the four-driver cut-off line and in danger of missing the title chance.
Blaney delivered when it mattered most and then used that opportunity to race toward a historic top-notch in NASCAR.
As a champion, Blaney was fully-engaged — the right mix of personable and competitive — that benefitted the whole sport. And even earning a shot at one of the hardest feats in racing — back-to-back season championships — was a testament to his talent and will-power.
Fittingly, his offseason will be one of the most memorable of his life — after celebrating Team Penske‘s 1-2 championship at the NASCAR Awards Banquet in Charlotte next week, he will be getting married to Gianna and taking time to reflect on a stellar time in his career.
His drive this year marked the first time since 2018 that a driver has answered a NASCAR Cup Series championship season with a runner-up finish in the title run the next year. The first of Logano‘s three championships – in 2018 — came over 2017 champ Martin Truex Jr.
"I‘s really incredible, three in a row for Team Penske and Roger [Penske] and [Ford President and CEO] Jim Farley was here today. That‘s a massive deal for Ford,” Blaney said.
"A Penske one-two, I think that‘s the first time they‘ve ever went one-two in the championship, so that‘s a huge compliment,” he continued. "I think Team Penske as a whole does such a great job of being prepared for these right moments in the playoffs, but we also had speed all year.
"I feel like our speed in general, I can only speak on us, we had great speed all year. Just wasn‘t the most consistent year of getting tore up, a lot of DNFs. But I feel like our pace has been good, and we ended the year really strong on speed, so I‘m proud of that effort."
"This team does a great job of rising to doubters, and it‘s really cool to be a part of that team, and they just work their asses off to figure out what we need to do to get better every single week, and they know how to rise to the occasion come Playoff time."
— NASCAR News Wire —
