The Next Gen car in NASCAR has clearly achieved one of its most important goals, to create more parity in the garage, to make the sport more competitive. This is reflected in the fact that in this current era of NASCAR, there have been 20+ different winners so far. But one thing that this parity has led to is the decline of that one big name dominating the field, the superstar. So given the current car, the new era, and the style of racing today, how can the sport find its next superstar? Let Ryan Blaney answer that question.
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Ahead of this Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the reigning Cup champion spoke to Fronstretch about the subject of superstars in the sport. One of the questions he was asked was how could a superstar emerge in the Next Gen era, to which Blaney replied, “You don’t have Jimmie (Johnson), Jeff (Gordon), Kyle Busch when they were winning 10 races a year. You just don’t have that anymore.”
“So it’s hard. I think if you can go out and win 3-4 races a year, you’re probably going to be on the higher end of wins for drivers, just how this stuff is right now. You’re not gonna see big, big winners to make it a superstar, but there are other ways. So hopefully it’s on the right path with where the marketing side is going right now with Netflix and the things that are branching out.”
Blaney claimed that NASCAR is currently “in a good spot” and hoped that one of his peers will take advantage of the opportunities at hand to grow their own brand and that of the sport.
Ryan Blaney on the ingredients of making a NASCAR superstar
The 2023 NASCAR Cup champion, who is very well a proper candidate to be the sport’s next superstar, also spoke about what it takes for a driver to become one. For Ryan Blaney, the formula, the recipe is pretty simple and only takes three ingredients.
“You’re successful in your sport. They market that person the right way to where you’re noticed outside of the racetrack and at the racetrack and then that person embraces what they’re trying to do, what that organization is trying to do, and then pushes themselves and the sport,” he described.
“So I think those three things kind of make one. Success, a series pushing an athlete, and then an athlete wanting to be a part of that, and then wanting to be a superstar.”
Having said that, the Team Penske star emphasized that it all starts with running well, with getting the results, with getting those wins, so you can be noticed.
