The race at Talladega Superspeedway came at just the right time for Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney as he was able to win the race in a proper photo finish while battling SHR’s Kevin Harvick, consequently booking his place in the round of eight.
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Meanwhile, at the winner’s press conference after the race, a reporter mentioned the frustrations shared by his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano during a Sirius XM NASCAR interview.
Referring to Logano’s thoughts about the team’s performance all season long, Blaney was asked if he believed that the team’s performance in the second half of the playoffs could serve as a unifying factor for Penske as an organization, potentially leading to a chance to compete for a championship and shifting the narrative surrounding the team’s energy and performance this year
Ryan Blaney speaks about frustrations with Team Penske after win at Talladega
Subsequently, Blaney responded, “I definitely think it’s probably not been the year we wanted at our group, right? You go from winning the championship with the 22 guys, and then we’ve struggled a little bit this year overall for speed and finishes and stuff like that. Joey getting knocked out in the first round was definitely a gut punch. Yeah, it’s easy to get down on that stuff, but it’s easy to get fired up about things too.”
He added, “Our group is always working towards getting better. I don’t think they — they don’t dwell on being behind a little bit for a long time. They just go to work, right, and they try to figure out how to be better. I think a shot in the arm like this, it’s like, let’s go. We’re in the Round of 8. We’re still in this thing. We have one in it. Let’s keep working.”
Blaney further stated that in racing, there are times when a team may experience a decline in performance after being at the top. He acknowledged that it was a natural cycle. He also believes that this situation can serve as a motivator for the team to work harder and improve their performance come next season.
Joey Logano expressed anger at his team’s performance this season
A little while ago Blaney’s teammate Logano mentioned his frustrations with the performance his team was putting on this season. Just last season, Logano had won his second Cup Series title and now he was knocked out of the first round in the playoffs. Something had clearly gone wrong with the team.
Logano mentioned, “I am glad people are pi**ed off about it. Like I am angry, like really angry about it and that’s a good thing.” Like Blaney, he too admitted that there were times when teams faced a downfall, adding that the only way to make it out of that ditch was to trust each other and work their way out of it.
The two-time Cup Series champion had also stated how they would have to understand how the RFK cars had been doing so much better than them since the two teams practically ran the same car. Logano admitted that it was the way RFK had been setting up their cars that made all the difference.
