“Cherry on Top!” Ryan Blaney Cherishes Maiden NASCAR Win as a Father After Surviving Phoenix Chaos

Team Penske Racing’s Ryan Blaney has shared his thoughts on securing his maiden race win after becoming a boy dad.

“Cherry on Top!” Ryan Blaney Cherishes Maiden NASCAR Win as a Father After Surviving Phoenix Chaos

Ryan Blaney wins at Phoenix (Via @phoenixraceway/X)

Kevin Harvick predicted a Ryan Blaney win at the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway and the 2023 Cup champion delivered exactly that, though not the way the veteran expected. It was one of the most chaotic races in the history of the track, that saw record cautions and the Team Penske drivers successfully defending a charge from Christopher Bell alongside Ty Gibbs.

One of the primary goals of Ryan Blaney coming into the 2026 season was to win races that he can dedicate to his recently born son Charley. At Phoenix he was able to do exactly that, while ending the dominant start to the season 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick had. On his post-race interview, the Ford driver shared his desire to fly back home soon to celebrate the win with his family.

Looking forward to getting home tonight and seeing them. It just changes your perspective. Whenever I get home Sunday nights and see her and him, it just completely changes everything.

Ryan Blaney said on post-race interview.

For the Team Penske driver, Ryan Blaney, having his family back home waiting for him return changes everything, in days where he wins races the feelings of joy are special. The veteran is feeling lucky to have his wife and son safe. He is looking for the day he wins while the duo is in the grandstands cheering for him as well as later celebrating with him in the victory lane.

For days like today, it’s just the cherry on top. Really, really lucky to have a healthy son and a healthy wife. Hopefully we can do it at some point where they’re here. Yeah, pretty cool.

Ryan Blaney added (via motorsport.com).

Ryan Blaney was furious and thankful over his crew  

The whole race featured some wild moments of chaos and Blaney was in the middle of most of these events. Two incidents that tested the veteran champions patience the most is the two massive pit-stop blunders from his No:12 crew.

Ryan Blaney
Ryan Blaney (Via @Team_Penske/X)

The slow stops that happened twice cost him multiple track positions and he had to drive his way to front of the track in both those times. Things boiled over so much that one time, he scolded the crew for the mistakes on team radio.

Hey…let’s f*cking keep our track position this time.

Ryan Blaney on team radio.

The crew delivered for him when it mattered though, as the decision to make a two tire stop in the end unlike the four tires stop from Christopher Bell earned him the win. But if the race was a bit longer, the No:20 team would have been on the victory lane.

Perseverance. Everybody on the 12-group persevered all day. We had a couple of mistakes that we learned from and got better. Had to come from the back a couple times and, honestly, the 20 [Bell] was the best car. But Jonathan [Hassler] made a great call to take two [tires], and we were able to get the lead and hold them off. I

Ryan Blaney said after the race.

The victory heled Blaney to secure P2 in the points table, ahead of his best friend Bubba Wallace. But he needs at least win two more races to get ahead of Tyler Reddick, who was the fourth best point earner on Sunday, as the early championship battle heats up.  

Also Read: Dale Earnhardt Jr. SLAM Critics for Blaming iRacing For Carson Hocevar’s Aggressiveness