How Ryan Blaney “Turned the Page” in His NASCAR Career That Led to His Championship Success in 2023

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) in the garage area along Grant Park during practice and qualifying for the Chicago Street Race.

Ryan Blaney has been a full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2016. He started with Wood Brothers Racing and moved to Team Penske in 2018. For most of his initial years in the big game, he managed to secure just one Victory Lane visit every year. He won at Pocono Raceway in 2017 and the Charlotte Roval in 2018. In 2019 and 2020, he won at the Talladega Superspeedway. This trend changed in 2021.

Out of nowhere, Blaney posted three wins that season and reached Victory Lane at Atlanta, Michigan, and Daytona. This was the first glimpse that showed the world he was ready to be more than just a perennial winner in the show.

Blaney spoke about the mental transition that led to this turnaround in a recent interview with veteran reporter Jeff Gluck. He said, “We turned the page in ’21. I was in this (situation) of just one win a year and only showing signs of being competitive a handful of weeks a year. It was like, ‘All right, what do I have to change about myself and how I approach and run these races to be better? I have to take the next step forward.'”

Such internal conversations helped him change the way he raced and made himself better. He mentioned that he had a similar moment of self-reflection after the 2022 season ended. That little analysis led him to the Cup Series title in 2023. Today, there is no track on the schedule where Blaney isn’t considered a threat.

In 2023 and 2024, he recorded three wins each season. He has won only at Nashville thus far in 2025, but the season is far from over. It is only fair and reasonable to expect that he would be adding a lot more feathers to his cap soon. His immediate opportunity to do so will be in Atlanta this Sunday. The driver currently sits sixth on the points table with seven top-fives and eight top-10s.

Notably, his win count by this point ought to have been a lot higher. Failed engines and unforeseen issues with his Ford Mustang Dark Horse cast a big dent in his results early in the season. But he has been recovering from it steadily over the past few weeks. All that’s left to do is wait and see if he can go the entire distance.

Post Edited By: Abhishek Ramesh
Jeff Gluck Ryan Blaney

About the author

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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