Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Chicago Street Race Media Availability
Saturday, July 6, 2024
Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang Dark Horse and the reigning NASCAR Cup Series Champion, met with media members at the Chicago Street Race ahead of on-track activity Saturday morning.
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
IN ABOUT A WEEK, YOU’RE GOING TO BE AT THE ESPYS, NOMINATED FOR BEST DRIVER. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO ABOUT THAT?
“Well, it’s pretty nice to be nominated. That’s for sure. That’s neat. And with some really great company as far as other drivers in other series. So looking forward to going out there. I’m just kind of seeing what it’s all about. I think the sports fan in me enjoys that stuff, recognizing other athletes and other types of sports all around the world and all different kind of backgrounds of sports and kind of seeing what that’s all about. So yeah, just pretty neat to be nominated and we’ll see what happens. We’ve got some pretty stiff competition, so we’ll see.”
WHAT’S BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE SO FAR COMING BACK AND FEELING THE VIBES OF WHAT THIS PLACE HAS TO OFFER?
“I walked it this morning. The course is narrower than I remember it being, walking on it. I know it’s not, but I think it’s just nice to be back. It’s nice to be back and it’s nice to have good weather. I think the whole weather this weekend is going to be phenomenal and it is going to give the fans and teams and drivers an experience that we didn’t have last year. A lot of stuff didn’t happen last year because of the weather from a fan experience side and I think that’s going to be way better this year with it being beautiful outside all weekend. So it’s nice to be back. I came up here a couple months ago promoting the race and the excitement level was through the roof and I think it’s going to be the same way. It’s honestly kind of like the first year we’ve been here in my mind just because the weather is so 180 and this is like properly going to be done with the whole weekend tying in. So yes, I’m happy that you know the city wanted us back and we decided to come back and put on even a better race than what we did last year. So it should be good.”
TEAM PENSKE IS NOW THE FIRST CUP TEAM TO HAVE ALL OF ITS DRIVERS LOCKED IN THE PLAYOFFS. IS THAT A BIG CONFIDENCE BOOST FOR THE TEAM? BECAUSE YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR PERFORMANCE ALL SEASON. AND NOW TO BE LOCKED IN LIKE A HEAD OF HENDRICK AND GIBBS, DOES IT MEAN SOMETHING?
“It’s nice to have everybody locked in, me and Austin and Joey. It gives you some confidence and a little bit of relaxation of, OK, we’re all in. So that 22 group, they were kind of all in that bubble. Then they performed last week and ended up winning the race. The 2 car being where they were before they won Gateway, that’s just a huge confidence booster for them and our whole organization. I think we’re honestly getting to where we need to be performance-wise. The last month and a half, I feel like I can just speak for my group personally, I think we’ve been really strong. Maybe our finishes haven’t really shown it with getting kind of tore up or spun out at the end of these things, running in the top five or so, but I feel like our direction as a team right now is really good and it’s just a bonus that we have all our cars locked in. Now it’s just a matter of how do we get our mile and a half a little bit better? How do we continue to get better on these road courses, which I think we’re learning. I’ve always just focused on where is the direction going from our team side? Where is our speed at and how are we running compared to the other teams that we’re trying to keep up with? And then getting us all locked in, that’s another kind of sense of relief. I feel like from everybody at our race shop on the teams like, ‘Okay we’re in, no more stressing about the points now.’ We can really focus on trying to get better as a whole group. Maybe you try a couple things here and there this summer to try to get prepare you for when the fall comes around, the playoffs start.”
WITH EVERYBODY LOCKED IN, YOU CAN KIND OF FOCUS ON THE FINAL 10 BEFORE EVERYBODY ELSE KIND OF CAN, RIGHT?
“You obviously want to win every week and be competitive and stack your wins up and get points. Because we’re kind of in that battle now of, OK, can we get to the top half of the top 10 in points to kind of help us out, come playoff time? Can we try to win some more races? But also, it does give you a little bit of freedom to try some things. That’s what we did last year. After we won Charlotte, we kind of went off and tried some stuff to try to be better for the playoffs. We tried some things that didn’t work, so we kind of learned what not to do and the things that maybe didn’t help us speed-wise. So it’s like a balancing act. You don’t just want to go completely off the reservation of, you know, wow, we’re really going to science project these things out and run like garbage, you know, if you don’t hit it right. But you also want to learn. So how do you balance out of trying new things, trying to be innovative on how you’re approaching their weekends to try to help you for the final 10 races and 10 tracks that are on the schedule. It’s like that fine line of, you don’t want to go too far off and really spin yourself out. But at the same time, you can’t just do the things you’ve been doing all year because everyone’s getting better constantly. So it does give you a little bit of freedom to do that stuff.”
SVG IS THE OVERWHELMING FAVORITE IT SEEMS. I’M CURIOUS IF THAT WAS KIND OF YOUR THOUGHT GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND AND AS WELL AS IF YOU LOOKED AT SMT DATA, WATCHED THE RACE FROM LAST YEAR, ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN KIND OF TAKE FROM HIS DRIVE FROM LAST YEAR THAT YOU’RE GOING TO IMPLEMENT FOR YOURSELF THIS WEEKEND?
“Yeah, he’s going to be a tough one to beat, right? I mean just his experience on the street courses and things like that. It’s nice that we all have a street race under our belt, that kind of brings us a little bit up to speed to where he’s at, but he just has so much more experience in this stuff. Looking at his stuff, he’s a right foot braker, right? I think he’s like the only guy probably right now that right foot brakes anymore. And we talked about it last year. It’s like, all right, well, how can we do this? Does this a help on street courses where it’s rough in the breaking zones? Does it help rear locking and things like that? I really got to thinking like, I would have to dedicate three to five years of my life right foot braking to get up to even half of what he can do. I’ve just done that left foot my whole life. So it’s like, how can you change it up now to help you on this course? You would reset yourself so much, I feel like. So I’ve played with it, like tests, and I’m like two seconds slower than what I’ve been, and I’ve gotten within like a second, but I just try to refine what I can refine and try to be better. There are some things you can learn watching just kind of how he modulates maybe on that stuff. But it’s just so different. It’s hard to get in that mode of how can I really change my whole thing up? And then you wouldn’t even be close to on par with him. You’d be so far behind the eight ball, you’d be worse than what you are now at left foot braking. At least that’s what I thought of it. It’s going to be a different race, that’s for sure, this year with it being dry the whole time, hopefully. I think we’ll be closer to him because we have a little experience, but I still think he’s going to be obviously the one to beat.”
WHEN YOU WALK OUT OF YOUR HOTEL AND YOU SEE A CITY OF THIS MAGNITUDE, YOU KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO RACE A RACE CAR IN IT. HOW LONG DOES IT JUST KIND OF TAKE YOU TO GRASP KIND OF THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS WHOLE THING?
“I’ll be honest, I was on the skeptical side last year before we came here. It’s like, how are we going to make this work and something new and you’re always kind of nervous with new things and how it’s going to go. I remember Gianna and I were having lunch last year before practice right outside our hotel right by the racetrack. And I’m like, this is super cool that we’re having lunch and I’m about to go walk over a block and go practice in a city like this and Lake Michigan is right behind you’ve got the high-rises right here and it’s weird going down the straightaways kind of the back stretch and the front stretch if you will, just looking at the museums and buildings. I try not to try not to focus on that too much like I got to pay attention to what I’m doing, but It is neat. I think it It took me that day to kind of grasp it. Once you like get here and you get kind of affiliated with everything and understand what’s what’s going on and it’s a big deal. It’s a really big deal that we’re here and hopefully the city enjoys it. I think they did last year and I think they will even more this year. It took me getting here and experiencing the whole thing and being in it to really appreciate it and I think it’s really neat. I don’t know what the future holds for styles like this, but I definitely think there’s an opportunity to continue doing something like this once a year or so. I never would have thought. I talked to my dad about it last year and he’s like, ‘I’ve never would have thought y’all would go here.’ Never in his wildest dreams. You never know what’s going to happen or what’s on the horizon.”
I’M CURIOUS, RICHMOND IS THE FIRST RACETRACK THAT WE GO BACK TO, BUT IT’S BEEN WELL DOCUMENTED THAT THE TEST JOEY DID AT NORTH WILKESBORO REALLY IMPROVED THE SHORT TRACK PROGRAM FOR PENSKE CONSIDERABLY. HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THAT’S GONNA HELP WHERE YOUR PROGRAM WAS WHEN YOU WENT TO RICHMOND IN THE SPRING AND NOW COMING BACK TO A SHORT TRACK?
“I hope it helps a lot. These things you learn at tests, sometimes it’s just light bulbs, that’s like, okay, that works. And we don’t test much anymore, so when you can find those things and utilize tests like that, it’s massive. The Homestead test last year that we did, it set up our whole playoffs. We found some stuff there that’s like, well, this is a really good direction. We seem to make this work. Let’s implement it on the weekends, and boom, we started running really good in the playoffs and led us to run for the championship. So those things are huge if you can learn the right things and utilize the test really well. I think as an organization, we do a great job of having a good game plan before we go to these tests, really preparing for them. We don’t get many of them, so you have to be really ready with things you want to try and good direction. We have great people that prepare for those things. That Wilkesborough test helped us out a lot. Hopefully it helps us come Richmond and all the short tracks through the year. Now we just have to ask for a mile and a half test so we can try some stuff there and see if we can find a little bit of pace at those places.”
EARLIER THIS WEEK NASCAR PENALIZED CARSON HOCEVAR FOR HOOKING HARRISON LAST WEEK. 15 MONTHS AGO HE GOT PARKED FOR A COUPLE LAPS IN MARTINSVILLE FOR DOING SOMETHING SIMILAR. AS A SERIES CHAMPION, IS THERE A ROLE THAT YOU HAVE IN TALKING TO SOMEBODY IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS, OR HOW MUCH OF A CONCERN IS THIS THAT SOMEBODY IS BEING PENALIZED FOR DOING SOMETHING TWICE IN A 15-MONTH PERIOD?
“Yeah, don’t hook anybody. You get penalized. Pay money, pay points, park them if you have to. That’s something I’ve seen too many times out of that guy from different series. That’s not cool. Don’t do that. They parked Lane Ridge for two laps for running through the back of somebody in that truck race at Nashville. I think everyone made a big deal when Hocevar did that in the Cup race, and then they rightfully penalized him after the race. That’s the only way you’ll get that stuff to stop. You have to make them pay a lot of money, fine them from points, things like that. If it’s bad enough, make them sit out. You know, that’s just stuff that you learn as a young driver. Don’t do. There are a lot of no-nos, and that’s one of them. And I don’t care if it’s under caution or under green, both of them are bad. Obviously, under green is worse. I think NASCAR did the right thing of penalizing because you have to slap people. There has to be repercussions for what you do when it’s something like that. And like I said, that’s something I’ve seen reoccurring with him that hopefully he learns from it and hopefully when there’s a little bit of hole in his pocket after the money he had to pay, it teaches you a lesson of don’t do that anymore.”
AS A REIGNING CHAMPION, DO YOU FEEL LIKE A MORE OF A RESPONSIBILITY TO TALK TO DRIVERS OR IS THAT STILL NOT A ROLE THAT YOU FEEL IS YOUR POSITION AT THIS POINT?
“I mean, me personally, I just don’t see it as my role. I’m not going to go to you and say, hey, don’t do that. You should know not to do that. That’s something about growing up and learning that you just don’t do. So, no, it’s not my role to go speak to somebody about that unless I am directly involved in it, then you’ll get a talking to, but you gotta learn that stuff on your own.”
WITH THE RICHMOND RACE NOW FEATURING THE DUAL TIRE FORMAT, HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT NOW MOVING TO A REGULAR SEASON FORMAT, AND IF IT WORKS, THE PLAYOFF SHORT TRACK RACES?
“I think we got a little taste of it at Wilkesboro. It didn’t do as much as I would have hoped it would have done at Wilkesboro as far as the different compounds, fall off and stuff, but it was hard to get fall off at Wilkesboro anyway with the new pavement. Hopefully at Richmond it does a little bit more. The track is a little older. It’s worn out. I just like to see, you know, I think if you’re going to have a dual tire like that, you have to have the option, like the soft tire, be a lot faster for 10 laps and then be a lot slower after like 20 than the prime. So hopefully it works. I know, like I said, Wilksboro didn’t really work. We stayed on the reds for like the whole race and we’re able to hold everybody off. I don’t think it will be that case at Richmond. I think you’re going to get more fall-off there. I applaud NASCAR and Goodyear for wanting to try stuff like that. You’ve got to find ways to try to help the short track program a little bit as far as raceability, dirty air, stuff like that. We always talk about tires and they’re not easy to change, but it’s the easiest thing to change as opposed to like bits and pieces on the car. We’ve tried everything you can try on the car — almost everything. We tried everything that we’re going to get on the car, so the tire thing is the next option and I think it’s a good direction. I don’t expect it to be amazing at first, like just the learning process and learning curve of getting everything where it needs to be. I think it’s a good direction. Hopefully it does something. It will be fun for the teams to have the option of when you put them on and how many you got laying. So we’ll see how that strategy side goes.”
IS THIS AN EVENT SOMETHING YOU THINK COULD HAVE A LONG-TERM EFFECT WHERE FOUR OR FIVE, TEN YEARS DOWN THE LINE WE’RE STILL COMING TO CHICAGO FOR A STREET RACE?
“I think it did such a good job last year and this year as far as like the notoriety of it and the fan excitement of it to where I think you definitely can do it. I don’t want it to get like — Bristol’s different, you know, when they threw dirt on it. There’s a track already there and you throw dirt on it and yeah, it was super hyped up. The first year and the second year was even more than a third year people started to, I say people I mean like fans watching and stuff like that they’re like, well okay, this has kind of run its course. I thought the dirt race was pretty good honestly, but this is a whole different thing. You’re bringing a racetrack to a big city and whether it be a Chicago or somewhere else, I don’t really have a preference honestly, it’s just whatever city will have us. That’s above my pay grade. I just go where they tell me to go. I definitely think it could be neat. You go to these huge markets of major cities around the country that can draw a huge attention to people that have maybe not seen a race before. Now we’re bringing it right to your home, and I apologize that we messed the traffic up for a few days here, but I think overall it does a really good thing. Bringing money to the city with everyone coming in, bringing notoriety to your city, I think that’s good. Whether it’s here or somewhere else, I don’t really care, but I’ve enjoyed Chicago. I really like this city. I’m not a big city guy, but Chicago is great. So hopefully it’s something that can continue across multiple cities, not multiple times a year. I think once a year is a good thing to do it. Hopefully it continues on. I’ve enjoyed it”.
