Ryan Blaney has a seemingly love-hate relationship with superspeedways. But his stats there show him in good light. He holds an average finish of 17.5 on them and it’s an even better 11.6 on the 1.5-mile Atlanta track. He also has five wins on the former and one on the latter.
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Across 58 starts at Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta, he has placed inside the top-five 18 times. Most recently at Daytona, he rallied from 13th to victory in the last two laps of the Cup Series regular-season finale.
Blaney admitted that his mindset shifted once he accepted that superspeedways are an unavoidable part of the NASCAR calendar. Whenever a wreck or melee ends his day, he convinces himself it simply wasn’t his race to win.
Blaney explained while talking to Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his podcast, “Even though maybe it’s not my favorite type, I’m going to go and try my best and enjoy it the most I can. And I’ve tried to learn to just be super patient at those places. It’s easy to get caught into the trap of taking every run, go now, go now.”
Outlining the secret to his success on drafting tracks, Blaney added, “I try to just let things develop in a natural way and take advantage of, like always being on the lookout for an opportunity, like what’s the opportunity for me to do this, and just like sitting back and being patient.”
The No. 12 Team Penske driver credited much of his approach to observing veterans, saying he was able to learn from a lot of great guys when he first started, like Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin. He explained that he watched how the veteran drivers approached those speedways and tried to soak all that in when he was younger.
Blaney admitted he avoids resenting superspeedways, as that mindset dooms drivers before they even take the green. His results have shown he has mastered the chess match better than many veterans.
Sitting fourth in the standings with a 20-point cushion entering Darlington for the Round of 16, his only superspeedway test in the playoffs will come at Talladega in the Round of 8. Until then, he will have to prove his mettle on intermediates and a road course.
