BRISTOL, Tenn.–Â Despite being neck and neck in the Rookie of the Year battle, Ryan Blaney says there’s no rivalry going on with Chase Elliott.
Speaking before the media during his press conference this morning, the driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford was asked if there’s a rivalry in the making with the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with the two of them controlling the rookie battle after seven races of the 2016 Sprint Cup Series season.
“There’s really been no rivalry between us,” Blaney said. “It’s been pretty fun to race with Chase every single weekend. I haven’t really had the opportunity to do that, ever. We never really raced together every single weekend. Even growing up in late models, we were never around each other that much. So it’s nice to do that and have fun with your friends on the race track.
“They do a great job over there (Hendrick Motorsports), so it’s been fun and we’re just trying to get our cars better. But you notice where they’re running. I like to know where my teammates are running and where some friends of mine are running on the race track. But at the same time, you have to go back and worry about your own deal and try to make your car better. It’s great that they’re running good, but we have to make sure our car is better and just worry about our program.”
Elliott currently leads the rookie battle with 87 points. Blaney sits in second place, 13 points back.
During the availability, he also addressed working on his conditioning with the longer races in the Sprint Cup Series.
“I feel like I haven’t really changed that much, to be honest with you, as far as preparation or anything like that,” Blaney added. “I got a small taste of it last year running half the schedule and we were able to do a handful of 500-mile races. We did the (Coca-Cola) 600 in Charlotte, so not a lot of that has changed. I feel like the biggest thing is it’s not really physical for me, it’s more mental and trying to keep mentally focused for 500 miles. I think that’s what most of the drivers fight and that’s something I’ve been trying to work on and make better. That’s helped out a lot. I had a great opportunity to kind of train with DeAngelo Williams, who plays for the (Pittsburgh) Steelers now, but he was in Charlotte and I was hanging out with him a little bit and he kind of told me his preparation and what he does mentally.”
