Ryan Blaney showed some dominance in the first two races of the season, finishing P7 at Daytona and P4 at Atlanta. However, his performance saw a dip in the subsequent four races, with his best finish being P19 at COTA. Yet, despite this downturn, Blaney remains unfazed, trusting in his team’s capabilities.
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Last year, by this point, Blaney had already bagged three top-5 finishes, with a close second place at Atlanta. Nonetheless, this season’s modest results haven’t shaken his confidence. During a recent episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, Blaney shared his mindset:
“I’m not really like I don’t ooze confidence. I’ve just never been that person. So, I try to just, you know, not let doubt get to me. And I always just try to go back if things aren’t going our way, like we got our whole team is really great at what they do… I have all the faith in them.”
Blaney further elaborated on his approach to setbacks, emphasizing the importance of immediate reflection and learning from errors without letting self-doubt take hold:
“As a driver, if you make a mistake, I try to learn from it right away, and I don’t think you try to let doubt creep in your mind like ‘oh I don’t know if I can still do this.’ That’s not a good way to think,” he explained.
According to Blaney, this philosophy is what he has cultivated over his racing career, which helps him navigate the highs and lows of the sport.
Is Team Penske leading behind the curtains?
Following the Homestead-Miami race, Team Penske’s trio, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, and Ryan Blaney, have emerged as leaders in the number of laps led, with Logano topping the charts at 247, Cindric at 159, and Blaney at 148.
Despite this impressive display, the results have been underwhelming. Maybe it’s because of this stat that Blaney is still very much confident about himself and his racing skills.
Logano is currently struggling with an average finish of 18.8, as he is still chasing his first top-10 of the season, currently sitting 11th in the driver standings.
Blaney’s hardships are similar, with an average finish of 21.5, placing him 10th in the standings. Meanwhile, Cindric is not faring much better, holding an average finish of 17.5 and positioned 21st.
Amid these statistics, notably, Ryan Blaney has notched the highest number of Did Not Finish (DNF) outcomes [three] among them, primarily due to factors beyond his control.
