Ryan Blaney says he is ready to be the ‘role model’ for young drivers

Reigning champion Ryan Blaney is ready to be the face of NASCAR.

Ryan Blaney says he is ready to be the ‘role model’ for young drivers

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

The 2023 season Cup championship win of Team Penske Racing’s Ryan Blaney was a story of resilience and thriving under pressure. Roger Penske won back-to-back Cup titles for the first time in his career, as his drivers continued the Next-Gen era title domination despite hard times. Now Blaney is fully ready to become the face of the sport.

In a recent interview, Blaney admitted that after being the champion of the sport he is ready to be a role model for the young upcoming racers. He will inspire many young racers with his impressive persona and work ethic. The Ford driver wants to be like the sports legends who he grew up watching and wanting to emulate.

YouTube video
I think back to when I was a kid and I watched all the champions and I wanted to be like them. So now that I’m fortunate enough to have won a championship, you want to be a role model for the younger kids out there, younger racers. So, I think it’s part of your job to be that person and we have a good opportunity to cash in on that.
Blaney said, as reported by brobible.

Ryan Blaney’s 2023 championship triumph was special for many reasons. One of them is obviously his clutch form. He experienced a massive slump in performance after his Coco-Cola 600 win and till the R-12 final race at Talladega was in survival mode. He remained super consistent in the R-8 and won the Martinsville race to secure Championship-4. Blaney won the title at Phoenix holding off the charging dominant HMs duo Kyle Larson and Willaim Byron.

FS Video

Ryan Blaney has become a leader at Team Penske racing

Till the 2021 season, Blaney was the youngest driver of the team with Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, being the veterans being the leaders. With Keselowski’s move to RFK Racing as owner-driver he joined Logano in the leadership role and now the championship win gives him more credibility.

Ryan Blaney (Via IMAGO)
Ryan Blaney (Via IMAGO)
When Brad left to go to his own team I felt like I was obligated to be in this leadership role with Joey, being the two veteran guys…Once you win a championship, I feel like you’re really established with your team, and I think that’s just gonna be better for our whole team as we get more and more successful.

Blaney and Logano have a task in hand in terms of being the leader at Penske going into the 2024 season with Austin Cindric. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner had a nightmare of the season this year. Helping him to overcome it and helping the iconic No:2 team to get back to winning ways should be a priority for them.

Discover: