Ryan Blaney, Penske’s ‘soft-spoken’ driver, vigorously charges to title in NASCAR finale

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Blaney was asked why he seemed “flat” after qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday.

He said he expected to qualify better than 15th since he was third fastest in practice. But he also jokingly replied, “I’m a pretty flat person.”

Outside of the racecar, that may be true. Blaney is a cool and calm personality. He’s a Star Wars fanatic and has interests that the average person would find relatable — he likes basketball, has picked up golf as a hobby, and regularly plays it these days with Team Penske IndyCar teammate Scott McLaughlin.

When he’s home, he enjoys time with his dog, Sturgill, and is close friends with fellow NASCAR drivers Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott.

Away from the track, he’s essentially a regular guy with a mellow-toned voice who’s trapped in a celebrity’s body. When it’s time to race, though, he flips the proverbial driver mode switch and becomes a combatant behind the wheel.

The old adage about racecar drivers is that when they become angry during a race, they drive a little faster. To quantify that would be hard to do, but it’s been said many times over the years on-air by the TV commentators who are ex-drivers or crew chiefs, and drivers such as Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, or Tony Stewart were often the ones who appeared to be the epitome of that idea.

Blaney is known to have a short temper when things don’t go his way during a race, too, but instead of helping him get the most out of his car, it almost led to a meltdown in the final stage of the season finale on Sunday afternoon.

Blaney defends his decision, but he raced eventual winner Ross Chastain exceptionally hard even though Chastain wasn’t competing for the title. Chastain and Martin Truex Jr., the other non-championship eligible driver in the mix, both drew the ire of Blaney in the final stage.

Blaney gave Truex’s rear bumper a knock during a caution and then did the same to Chastain during a green flag battle in the middle of Turns 1 and 2.

He was worried that if he got held up by the No. 1 and No. 19 cars then Kyle Larson would gain ground and be a threat to get the top spot among the championship racers.

“There’s no secret that I can snap on the radio,” Blaney said. “That’s been my whole life. That’s been my whole career. It’s just kind of something I do. The fact that Ross said I raced him hard, the dude blocked three lanes in the corner of every lap. I don’t know how I’m racing him hard.”

A reporter asked if Blaney purposefully gave Chastain a hit to the bumper, to which the 2023 NASCAR champion said, “Well fuckin’ right, I hit him on purpose. He blocked me on purpose 10 times.”

His frustration with Chastain led to him overdriving the car and wearing out his tires rapidly. Larson gained a second on the Penske driver in only a few laps, and until a caution came out from a Kyle Busch spin, it looked like Blaney might be in trouble should the race stay green to the finish.

Team owner Roger Penske spoke to his driver on the radio to ease his temper. Blaney was annoyed with Chastain because he thought he was faster than him, and Chastain’s incessant blocking would allow Larson and William Byron to gain on him.

“Other than the spotter, I have the right to give him a couple of shots one way or the other, I think,” Penske said. “He was running fine. He was concerned that he was being backed up by the 1 obviously to the 5, which he really wasn’t. He was doing a great job. The guys, Jonathan (Hassler, crew chief), the team, good pit stops, good strategy on getting their car right.

“It’s more to say, Hey, you’re doing a good job. I told him before the race, Win, lose, or draw, you’re a champion.”

The Captain also described how Blaney is similar to other drivers who have won championships with his team over the years, including IndyCar legend Rick Mears and two-time Cup champion Joey Logano.

“He gets in that class with Mears,” Penske said. “He’s a soft-spoken guy, really, but when he gets behind the wheel, like Joey, when he puts his hat on, don’t get in his way. I think he showed that today.”

Hassler agreed with his driver that hounding Chastain for the lead was imperative to have a shot at the title.

“Racing the 1 at the end, I think that was 100 percent the right thing to do,” he said. “I’m definitely fine with that; it was what we needed to do.”

Even with Chastain becoming the first Cup driver to win the Championship 4 race without winning the title since this playoff format’s inception in 2014, Blaney saw no value in not taking the race trophy along with the Bill France Cup.

The final question asked during his championship press conference was if it mattered to him that he hasn’t won at Phoenix despite three consecutive runner-ups there. On a humorous final note of his time with reporters, he said:

“I don’t give a shit about running second three times. Not now. I don’t care.”