Honoring the heritage of stock car racing, NASCAR unveiled its Class of 2026 with three standout figures in May 2025: Kurt Busch, Ray Hendrick, and Harry Gant, while longtime executive Humpy Wheeler received the Landmark Award for his contributions to the sport.
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The official Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in March. And while Kurt Busch’s decorated career has earned him a place among legends, when 2023 Cup champion Ryan Blaney was asked if he envisions himself there someday, he brushed the thought aside.
On the Team Blaney podcast, Blaney made it clear the Hall of Fame is far from his mind. “I don’t know. No, as far as my deal goes, like I don’t think about that stuff. Like, I don’t think about it at all. If it happens, it happens. I got a long road to go. So, we’ll just see when the time comes, but it’s not something that I think about,” he said.
Blaney admitted, however, that as reigning champion, he sat in on the voting process last year, listening to arguments for different nominees. While he stayed quiet, he privately pulled for Harry Gant’s inclusion and seemed glad that Gant was included in this year’s class.
The No. 12 Team Penske driver also reflected on the abrupt end of Kurt Busch’s driving career in 2023, noting that while the circumstances were difficult, he was glad to see Busch recognized for everything he accomplished in his career.
Through 12 Cup seasons, Blaney has tallied 15 victories in 368 starts, posting 163 top-10 finishes. For the past two years, he has reached the Championship 4, finishing first and second in those seasons.
Now, with 10 playoff races ahead, Blaney sits fourth in the standings and would aim to lean on his strengths at superspeedways and intermediate tracks to chase another championship.
But in such a short span, given he has achieved so much, he would definitely be in the running to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame once he retires.
