Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Ford Racing Media Zoom Call
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse, is a previous winner of the NASCAR All-Star Race, which is taking place on Sunday afternoon for the first time at Dover Motor Speedway. Blaney, who registered his All-Star win in Texas in 2022, spoke about having the annual event at a new track while also commenting on his recent multi-year contract extension with Team Penske earlier today.
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse – ARE YOU TRYING TO GET POINTS NO MATTER WHAT AS FAR AS STAGES GO, OR IS THERE A POINT WHERE YOU JUST HAVE TO SPLIT THE STAGE? “I think it’s just all kind of situational. Road courses get interesting and it just depends where you’re at. I look at The Glen, we were sixth, I think, and we talked about certain decisions on who is flipping in front of us, what kind of stage points can we get, you’re gonna pay the penalty in the next stage for sure if a bunch of guys do flip, but points are incredibly valuable. We ended up finishing third in that stage at The Glen and that’s eight points, eight positions, so do you think your car is good enough to make that back up? Or if you’re 15th and you don’t think you’re gonna have a great day, do you play the stage game in those situations. So I think it all just varies. We talk a lot about that stuff and a lot of it you can plan, but you never know what everyone else is gonna do, so a lot of it is calling it in the situations that you’re in – whether it’s my crew chief or me understanding the spot you’re in. So points are very valuable. I know Reddick is a ways out there leading the points right now, but we’re pretty close to the 9 and the 11 and there’s a handful of guys right behind us, so that stuff you always have to keep in mind, but it varies week to week depending on where you’re running and what kind of car you think you have.”
ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO RETURNING TO NASHVILLE AS THE DEFENDING WINNER? “I enjoy Nashville. The racetrack is really unique. One of the bigger concrete tracks that we go to and just changes a lot throughout the race and throughout the day. It was really cool to get a win there. I have a lot of friends who live in that area, so it’s always fun to see them and celebrate with them after the race or see them before the weekend or whatever. We always draw a great crowd. I feel like we have a lot of dedicated fans in that area that really come out and support the weekend, so it meant a lot to win there last year. It’s a tough night, for sure, of dealing with the track changing like I talked about. The people that I know out there, it makes it even more special when you can see them and celebrate with those guys, so I look forward to going there and hopefully we can repeat what we did.”
WITH THE ALL-STAR RACE COMING UP AND THE PIT CREW CHALLENGE BEING PART OF QUALIFYING. IS THIS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR CREW TO SHOW THEIR STUFF AND HAVE YOU GUYS DONE ANY EXTRA WORK? “I feel like those guys have made a lot of improvements. We made some changes on our group a few weeks ago and they seem to be gelling really well. I feel like they’ve had a really good last few weeks and just getting their confidence to where it needs to be. Confidence is a huge thing not only on the racetrack and stuff like that, but those guys too. How do you get them back because I know those guys can be up there with the best. As far as extra reps this week? Not really. Those guys practice the same every week. They’re in there practicing a few days a week and kind of refining their stuff. With the Glen last week of backward pit stops, they have to switch back into normalcy, which they’re very good at and very used to. I look forward to seeing what those guys can do. That’s a big part of the qualifying. Obviously, there’s the lap and getting to pit road and leaving pit road, but that’s a big chunk of time is on pit road to where those guys can really shine, so I’m looking forward to seeing what those guys can do. They’re really excited for it and for showing everybody else what they can do. I’ve got their back 100 percent of the way, so I can’t wait to see what they’ve got.”
HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE FIRST TWO SEGMENTS OF THE ALL-STAR RACE SINCE YOU HAVE A GUARANTEED SPOT IN THE FINAL ONE? “I don’t know. That’s a great question. You hope you don’t get run over by some of those guys that need to get in and trying to get your best average that you can to set yourself up for the end. No matter where you start, where you re-rack in the second run of the race, it’s all about trying to optimize your finishing position. We’re gonna be aware. I’l. be aware of who is not locked in and you just kind of take into account that this person might be desperate to get in, which they have to do everything they need to do to try to race for a million dollars. You just take all of that into account and who you’re racing around and the situation that you’re in. It’s a little bit different than what we’ve seen for sure with the whole field being grouped together, which is interesting, but it’s part of racing every week. You know what guys are willing to do and I think this week guys are willing to do a little bit more just because they don’t have to worry about points. In their case, they’re just trying to get into the show and the final act I guess you could say, so you’ve got to be aware of who is where, who is in what spot and go from there.”
YOU SIGNED THE CONTRACT EXTENSION LAST WEEK. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE EVOLUTION OF HOW YOU’VE BECOME A PERFECT FIT AT TEAM PENSKE AND DOES THE MUSTACHE EVER COME UP FOR YOU WITH ROGER? “To start off, it’s been a dream to be over there as long as I have. It’s crazy. I sit down and I look back through these talks that we’ve had and going forward and sitting down 14 years ago I walked through the door at that place. It’s crazy to me that I’ve spent almost half of my life at that organization and with those people. Roger has let me be my own person. He’s just kind of let me be who I am, my own personality, and at the same time I have respect for what that team is built for, obviously. I’d say I’ve probably pushed the limits a little bit years ago when I started the long hair and doing the playoff beard and things like that, but RP let me do it and he just wanted me to be my own person and things like that. I think Roger’s biggest thing is how you treat people, whether that’s people who work for Roger, the partners, that goes on us too. How is your relationship with our partners and the people there? That’s really all he cares about, I believe at the end of the day, is are your functioning to what you need to do. Are you doing the work? Are you cordial with everybody? Are your partners happy? Do you have good relationships with them, and I’ve been really lucky to have that while being able to maybe not look the Penske driver look. So, I thank him for letting me be me. I’ve gone through a lot of looks with the too long hair, too big of a beard, the mustache and he’s let me do it. I get jokes every now and then from him about it, especially when I started the playoff beard type thing, but he’s just always joked around with that, so I appreciate him letting me be me. At the same time, I’m always grateful for him allowing me to do that.”
IS THERE A MUSTACHE CLAUSE IN YOUR CONTRACT? “No. I just showed up with it a photos, so there is no mustache clause in my contract that I can or cannot have.”
JOEY LOGANO SAID YOU ARE PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST, IF NOT THE BEST, DRIVERS ON THE TRACK. HOW DO YOU MOTIVATE HIM WHEN HE’S STRUGGLING AND HOW DOES THE WHOLE SCENARIO LOOK FOR TEAM PENSKE NOW? “Those were really kind words from Joey. I really appreciate him speaking about me that way. That really means a lot. I’ve looked up to Joey for a long time. It’s been a pleasure to be his teammate and push each other every single week, I feel like, and really learn from each other. I’ve learned a ton from him by just sitting down and having a conversation with how he approaches things. I think that’s unbelievable. I think Joey is above and beyond the work ethic that he does and the talent level that he has. I think it’s very unfair that even though he’s had a rough month that people are counting him out. He’s gonna rally. That team is gonna rally and do what they need to do to come back and they’re gonna do that. I think our group, Team Penske, I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot. We’re working really hard on the mile-and-a-halves. That seems to be the point of interest for us and kind of our number one priority, but I feel like we made a step at Texas compared to what we were at Kansas, so that’s positive. I look forward to see where we’re gonna be at Charlotte next weekend, but everything else, I feel like our road course program is strong. All three of us qualified well. It’s unfortunate that the 22 had that issue. Our short track program is getting to where it needs to be. I think it’s pretty solid, and the speedway stuff we’ve done a good job of working together, so I feel like we’re operating pretty well. There are a couple things here and there that I think we need to get a little bit stronger at, but I like where this group is at, but it’s always about pushing forward.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ALL-STAR RACE FORMAT THIS WEEKEND AT DOVER? “They’ve moved that All-Star Race around a good bit the last handful of years from Charlotte and Texas and North Wilkesboro. Bristol we ran one year and that’s fine. I think the Clash and the All-Star Race you have the luxury of going that, so I hope the package that we’re bringing is gonna be interesting at Dover. We’ll see what that does. I know they treated the track a little bit differently than what they have in the past to try and get it wider faster, so that’s a positive. The weather up there actually looks like perfect racing weather. It’s gonna be fairly warm and that place needs warm conditions to run well, just those concrete racetracks, to put rubber down. The format, it is what it is. I feel like it’s definitely different with having the Open cars in it for the first half of the race – for them to try to get into the final segment – so that will be something interesting. I personally don’t really care where it goes. You can move that race around. Would I enjoy seeing it at Charlotte a week before the 600 like we used to have? Yeah, because I feel like that’s always a fun lead up to the 600 because you can make a whole week out of it. But, I think it’s interesting. They can always throw new formats at it and new places. To me, I don’t really care what the format is or where we race. I’m gonna go anywhere you tell me and gonna try to give it my best and go try to win a bunch of money. That’s really what it is at the end of the day. It doesn’t really matter to me where it’s at.”
AT THIS POINT, DOES EVERYONE TALK IN THE SHOP ABOUT HOW TO BEAT SVG ON THE ROAD COURSE? “Speaking from a driver’s standpoint, it’s incredibly impressive and unbelievable how good he is at road courses. I mean, I knew it. When he was coming over here and they announced it before we ran Chicago I’m like, ‘We’re in trouble because I’ve watched him in V8 Supercars.’ I’m good buddies with Scottie Mac (Scott McLaughlin). He would talk about Shane. I’ve seen them battle and I’m like, ‘This guy is gonna be a big, big problem at these places,’ and he is. He’s proven me right. He’s the new benchmark and it’s a really high benchmark to try to reach. I feel like everyone is trying to work twice as hard to get there and we’re not making much progress, to be honest with you. He was able to get beat at COTA this year, which broke his streak, but he’s just incredibly impressive with what he does. People always say, ‘Well, you have data. You just look at what he’s doing and do it.’ I’m like, ‘It’s so hard to replicate that, especially at a road course.’ It’s hard enough on an oval. It’s hard to replicate what he’s doing because there are a million little things that he’s doing that all adds up that makes him better than the rest of us. It’s tough, but we don’t accept defeat going into road courses. We work really hard to say, ‘OK, how do we run the best that we can?’ We know where the best guy is gonna be, that’s Shane, and how do we get close? How do we get there and just try to race with him to where we can be in contention. But I do think we’re making good progress. I thought COTA we were right there. The Glen, it was a funky race for us. We didn’t flip the first stage and kind of picking our way through the second one, and then I hit the 24 when he spun out and kind of damaged us, but we still fought back to finish fairly decent, so I’m looking forward to San Diego. Sonoma, I thought we had a good piece last year. It’s impressive what he’s doing. We’re working really hard to get there, it’s just a matter of are we gonna get there? It’s hard to deny how amazingly impressive that guy is.”
WOULDN’T IT BE NICE IF THE ALL-STAR RACE CAME BACK TO CHARLOTTE AND TO HAVE TWO WEEKS AT HOME GIVEN THE GRIND THIS SEASON IS? “Yeah, it would be nice, but I’m not gonna sit here and complain about the length of the season, where we have to go, when we have to go. We’re pretty lucky to be doing this. My wife understands that this is the life and I’m gonna be gone a lot and this is just what it is, so I don’t really ever want to complain like, ‘Man, I wish we had more weekends off.’ Personally, yeah, maybe to give my body a rest and to be home more, but I don’t want to ever complain about that because we are very privileged in what we do and I’m very lucky to be in the spot that I’m in, getting to compete at the highest level every single Sunday. So, that’s really why I say I don’t really care where it’s at. We’ll travel wherever we’ve got to go to go do our job. I’ll tell you, it is harder to leave home, but we do have a job to do and, fortunately for me, we understand that and know that. Yeah, it’s changed a little bit, but I’m never gonna complain about the length of the season or where we’re going because I could easily be sitting on the couch every single week and that would be no fun.”
CARSON HOCEVAR SAID HIS TEAM GIVE HIM A WIDE BERTH TO BE HIMSELF AND YOU SAID THE SAME THING. ANOTHER DRIVER SAYS HE DOESN’T GET THAT KIND OF SUPPORT FROM HIS TEAM. DOES WINNING MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN GETTING SUPPORT FROM YOUR TEAM OR DOES THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT? “I definitely think it plays a little role in it. If you’re running competitively week in and week out, winning races, yeah, I feel like you do have a little bit more of a leash. If you’re screwing around and not in the shop or anything like that through the weeks, and you’re running really bad, then you’re probably gonna have a pretty short leash. It’s like, the reason you’re not running good is because you’re not around. I don’t know. That’s with everything. If you can do a great job on the track and stuff like that, yeah, you’re gonna have a little bit more leeway, so I do think that plays a slight role in it, but every team is different. Every owner expects something different. I’ve been lucky that Roger has let me do my process of what I’ve done. I’m these days in the shop. I kind of go about things a certain way and he’s let me do that, but to answer your question, it plays a little role – maybe not hugely, but a little bit.”
ARE THERE ANY UNEXPECTED THINGS YOU’VE SEEN SO FAR THIS SEASON AS WE GO INTO THE ALL-STAR RACE? “I’m looking at Tyler Reddick 180 points away from me 12 races into the season. Everyone is getting our butt kicked out there by that guy and they’ve done a great job. I don’t think, this is not to dog Tyler or that team or anything, but I don’t think anyone expected them or anybody to have the amount of wins that they have this early in the season. That just hasn’t really been done recently, so they’ve done a great job of that, but I would say that’s the only unexpected thing like, ‘Dang, he’s got five wins in 11 races or whatever it is.’ That’s pretty dang impressive. His batting average is very high, but everything else I look at the points through it and there are a couple. Joey has had a rough stretch here recently and he’s dropped, so that’s unfortunate. He’s gonna claw his way back, so I don’t really look at it. I look at the points every week now like a hawk. I’m surprised how much I look at the points compared to what I used to, just with this format. ‘Did I gain on this guy? Did I lose on this guy? Where is the pack at?’ That’s something I didn’t think I’d do as much as I am, so, yeah, I guess those things are something that’s stood out to me, but I don’t really sit around and ponder on it. It’s just kind of random thoughts.”
IS IT A GOOD THING TO SEE THE GUY IN FIRST PLACE ALREADY RUNNING AWAY WITH IT? “It’s not a good thing for me. It’s a good thing for him, for sure. I think it’s been great. I had a great talk with Dale Jr. when I was on his show last week and Dale loves this format. He’s watching like a hawk during the races from an outside perspective of he knows where everyone is sitting in points. If this guy has a bad day, that’s really gonna hurt. If this guy has a good day, he’s gonna jump up a lot in the standings. And then just little battles beyond. Like if I’m racing with guys I’m around in points, I know what I’m going for. If I’m running around the 9 or the 11 or something like that, those are hard battles because it’s like, ‘Man, I just need to out point this guy and I can creep back in on him.’ I think it just adds a bigger element to that side of it, which is good. I think it’s really interesting to be a part of. I hope it’s been good to watch, and I think the people have liked it, so I think it’s doing what it needs to do and we’ll see where it is. I think the big storyline now is can anyone eat into Reddick’s lead? That’s another storyline that’s been pretty big in my mind. Can anybody get there? We’ve got just over half of the regular season left to get there. Maybe it’s possible and maybe it’s not. And then you’ve got all these really close battles. At the top there are some gaps, but you get from fifth on back and it’s a dogfight, and around that cutline is a dogfight. It’s interesting to watch back the races of how that stuff goes because I watch battles when I re-watch the races on Sunday night and, like I said, I know where the points are at so I’m watching like, ‘These guys are racing hard because they’re right next to each other in points.’ They know that every point matters when they’re racing around that guy, so I think it’s more exciting. You have to be more methodical on our side. As we go through these races I feel like it’s a little bit more important for us not to have failures, not to have mistakes. I think the pressure is higher because if you have a bad day, it’s really gonna hurt you. So, yeah, I’ve been really enjoying myself.”
