Finally Locked Into NASCAR Playoffs Ryan Blaney Won’t Be Slowing Down

NASCAR is gearing up for a long, sweltering summer, that part of the season where teams start eyeing the fall and the onset of the Playoffs. These summer months, the Playoff Push, are the final races of the regular season leading up to the decisive race that sets the Round of 16 at Darlington.

For teams with a race win, the Playoffs are a certainty. For the rest, it’s all about bagging decent finishes and staying high in the point standings. Take last year’s champ, Ryan Blaney. Until recently, he was one of those just hoping for decent finishes. Why? Because through the first 16 races, Blaney was winless, with three DNFs, two of which were in the last four outings.

But then came race 17, and the NASCAR Cup series’ debut at Iowa Speedway, a snug .875-mile oval in Newton. And what a debut it was, especially for Ryan Blaney; that’s because it was his show. Blaney led a race-high, and personal career-high, 201 of the 350 laps. This victory secured his Playoff spot, freeing him from the tyranny of the points standings. Not that he seemed too fussed about it.

“I don't really pay attention to that stuff too much,” Blaney admitted. “You look at it once, figure out if you can catch the guys ahead of you this weekend if you're a few points away. You think about that during the stages and stuff. Other than that, I don't really look at it. It's nice that you don't have to look at it anymore in that regard. You just look to where you are in Playoff points.”

With his win locking him into the Playoffs, one might think Blaney would change his racing style. Not a chance.

“It’s just balls to the wall still,” he said. “Yeah, we had three bad races there, bad finishes, and we lost some points to the cutoff line, but it still wasn't that bad. I think we just approach it every week… try to win the race.”

Blaney's approach is all about going full throttle, never racing conservatively.

“I feel like you can kind of lose sight of what your team is good at, and that is gritting their teeth and getting down after it. Our group, they're fighters. They're diggers, and we race the hell out of every single weekend like it's live or die. And that's just kind of how we've always lived. That's just how we've always done it. And sometimes it bites you, but most of the time it's good for you. And that's just how our group operates.”

Despite the Playoff Push, Blaney still has sponsor obligations. On race days, he must do meet and greet sessions and all the usual at-track activities. Some might argue this time could be better spent improving race finishes, but Blaney disagrees.

“No. I feel like we do a good job of balancing that out,” he said. “It’s funny when I meet partners or customers of partners, other athletes, whoever, at the racetrack for the first time. They’re like, ‘I can't believe you're doing this right before you race’. I’m like, ‘Yeah, it's every week’. And they're like, ‘How do you do it?’ I’m like, ‘Well, just learn to switch it on and off quick’. You know, you can switch on race mode, you can switch on partner relations mode pretty quick.

“We've just done it for so long, or at least I have since I was a kid. Like, I grew up around my dad doing it. I just understood it and understand when you got to change modes… it's just as important. I try my very best to take care of our partners and that's why we have such great partners. We care for them because it makes their work, work for us.”

One of Blaney’s major partners is Advance Auto Parts, with him since 2020. Blaney, a third-generation racer, follows the footsteps of his grandfather Lou and father David. All started on short tracks, and the family co-owns Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. The Blaney family epitomizes grassroots racing, and the sponsorship seems the perfect fit.

When Advance became Blaney’s sponsor, they also took over the naming rights to NASCAR’s weekly series. Now known as the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, the series races on short tracks all around the country showcasing grassroots talent. They continue to support those tracks. Last year, the company held the "Advance My Track" promotion, offering tracks a chance to win $50,000 to promote themselves locally.

Advance Auto Parts recently launched the "Ride with Ryan Blaney" contest, giving customers a chance to have their name on Blaney’s car at the Daytona race in August.

“They’ve just been great partners… they’re Motorsports fans,” Blaney said. “They want to race, activate, and give their customers cool experiences. Being able to be on the car at Daytona and being part of it, I feel like, just gives fans an extra taste of the race and their experience. And if they can get in Victory Lane with their name on the car, like that's the coolest thing ever if you're a race fan.”

Blaney appreciates Advance's support of grassroots racing.

“You know, I had so many people, crew members, drivers, right?” he said. “We all came up through the short track ranks. And when Advance did the short track deal, they're like, ‘Hey, I love how Advance is doing that because that's where we all came from…you have to keep those tracks healthy and alive. Doing those little things helps them improve their facilities and fan experiences, and it just all goes towards a greater cause. I'm lucky to have a partner like Advance Auto Parts… they're fantastic. They love every minute of it, and I look forward to being with them hopefully for a long, long time.”

Blaney hopes to add another win before Daytona in August, then survive the Playoff rounds for a chance to defend his title. But if he doesn’t make it into the Final Four at Phoenix in November, he won’t consider this season a failure.

“I try not to look at things that way,” he said. “We all have our goals at the start of the year, and yeah, we won the championship last year. We expect to win championships again. But I try to be realistic about it. You're not going to win every year. You're not going to go out and do that. Don't think it's a complete and utter failure if you don't get to Phoenix or win the championship back-to-back years. Just assess what you did.

“I've always told our guys, ‘Hey, just do your job to the best of your ability. If it's enough, and we get to Phoenix to race for a championship, great. If we didn't do our jobs completely and just missed out, how do we improve and be better next year?’ So that's my mindset.

“Yeah, I'll be disappointed, but anyone would be, whether they won a championship the year before or not. They're always bummed when they don’t have a shot to race for it in Phoenix. But that's my mindset.”