Ryan Blaney breaks down the face tattoo wager with IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden over 2023 NASCAR Cup title

The Team Penske NASCAR and IndyCar teams share a strong relationship.

Ryan Blaney breaks down the face tattoo wager with IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden over 2023 NASCAR Cup title

Josef Newgarden and Ryan Blaney (Via IMAGO)

Ahead of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series finale at Phoenix, IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden made a surprising bet twice. He publicly claimed that he would get a new tattoo with Ryan Blaney’s face if he were to win the 2023 Cup championship. The No:12 Team Penske Racing driver delivered on Sunday, finishing second in the race to win the title.

Now it’s on the former Indy Lights champion to deliver on his promise. Bob Pockrass asked Blaney about the wager and will the IndyCar driver would deliver on the promise. He admitted that he didn’t know and explained how Newgarden texted him from Japan out of the blue with the bet. Blaney reminded me that he didn’t put it out to the world, and the IndyCar driver is the one who did it.

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No idea [if he will follow through. He texted me that on Wednesday [before the championship]. I was shocked. He’s in Japan, and he texted me that. It fired me up because that’s not like him. I [then] forgot Newgarden bet a tattoo of my face, so we’ll see. We’ll see if he goes through with it. He put it out in the world. I wasn’t going to put it out in the world, and then he tweeted it.
Blaney told Fox Sports.

The messages between the two showcase the comradery in the Team Penske garage as both drivers for Roger Penske. Blaney and Newgarden are close friends, and the IndyCar driver might have come up with the wager to motivate his teammate to secure the title in the Championship-4 race.

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Ryan Blaney and Josef Newgarden made history for Penske in 2023

The 2023 season, despite the struggles, was special for Roger Penske. Barney and Newgarden were together in one of the major highlights of the season.  Newgarden secured his maiden Indy 500 win this season, and hours after the triumph, Blaney won the Coco-Cola 600.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps gives Ryan Blaney the 2023 Cup title
NASCAR President Steve Phelps gives Ryan Blaney the 2023 Cup title (Via IMAGO)

2023 also marked the first time in his Cup career that Roger Penske has won back-to-back Cup titles. Joey Logano won the 2022 Title, and last season also marked another double triumph for the team as Will Power won the IndyCar title as well.

Penske will go to the 2024 season, hoping to repeat the 2022. Their Cup triumph this season was a big surprise, considering they had a performance slump in most of the regular season and playoff races. Their failure to defend the IndyCar title was another disappointment for the team, and they will want to get back to their very best from the start of the season.

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