Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, is returning to the track where he made his first NASCAR start, Richmond International Raceway, but this time he is racing for the Wood Brothers. He has had a few XFINITY Series starts, however his first start in 2012 was with Tommy Baldwin Racing.
“I like coming here,” Blaney said. “I have had a handful of starts here in the XFINITY Series and actually made my first start here in 2012 with Tommy Baldwin Racing at the time. It is really neat to come back to a place where you made your first start in a series and that always has a little something special. I am excited to get out of here for the first time in a Cup car and it will be fun to get on the racetrack and see where that goes.”
When Blaney made his first start that day in 2012, he turned a lot of heads with how talented he was. He ended up finishing that race in seventh which gave him his first top-10 in the XFINITY series. He raced in the XFINITY series with Tommy Baldwin Racing for six races in 2012, and then drove for Team Penske in 2013 for two races, scoring his first career victory at Kentucky. He continued to race for Penske in 2014 and 2015, winning two more races in Bristol and Kentucky again. He still races for Penske in the XFINITY Series.
“I look back on that night in 2012 and we had a really good run with a small team and it is who my dad was running for at the time and that is how it came about running for Tommy,” Blaney said. “It got the ball rolling on a lot of things. It got us in the door at Team Penske and Brad’s truck team and that is what started this whole deal. It is neat to come back here. It hasn’t been too long and it has been a lot of fun to race a bunch of different vehicles and be with a great team like the Penske group and now the Wood Brothers and Brad’s truck team.
“It is kind of special to come back here and know that this is where it all began to lead to this point. It has been a lot of fun and neat to be already in the Sprint Cup level. I remember coming here to watch my dad race for years. This was a place we would go as kids because it was a short drive. That aspect of it too always makes it a little more special.”
Blaney hopes his previous success carries over into this weekend at Richmond with the Wood Brothers, so he can continue the early success of his rookie season. So far this year, Blaney has posted a pair of top-10 finishes The success has Blaney felling good, especially with the guys around him that he is able to do it with.
“It has been fun,” Blaney said. “It has been great to work with them every single weekend. It is nice to be at the racetrack every weekend with them and running full time. We got a little taste of it last year with the partial schedule but now this year, being able to come full time and see them at the track every single week and work together with those guys every week is a lot better. Consistency is one of the biggest things in this sport and I think that has really helped us out. As we work together more and more I feel like we will keep getting better. It has been fun to learn their history more. It seems like I learn something never every weekend about their team and the history of the sport and how long they have been in it. It has been a blast. I couldn’t be with better people. They are some of the best people in the garage area as far as really making you feel at home and that really means a lot.”
With Blaney being a rookie this year, so he tries to obtain as much from the veteran drivers like Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson just to name a few.
“It has been alright,” Blaney said. “I ran 15 or so races last year so it is hard to think of being a rookie still. I raced with all the Cup regulars a lot last year. It is funny, I grew up watching them and wanting to race with them on Sunday and now you are doing it. It is pretty neat to race with the people you looked up to when I was watching my dad race. Tony (Stewart) coming back, I have always wanted to race with him. He is one of the people I looked up to a lot as a kid. It is really neat to have him back. It has been good. There is obviously some rookie hazing a little bit but it has been nice. I think if you give enough respect you eventually get it back. That is what I am trying to work on, giving enough, and you never know when it will start coming back to you.”
Blaney has always wanted to race against Tony Stewart and is happy that Smoke is back in the car this weekend and he can finally make that dream a reality.
“Well, I grew up kind of idolizing him and really looking up to him as a driver and he has always been really great to myself and my family,” Blaney said. “One, my dad owns a dirt track up in Ohio and he has always come and done appearances and races out there which has brought a lot of fans. He has given us a lot of advice at the start of my career which helped out. He has been a great part of our family and I have always wanted to race with him. I didn’t do that a ton last year because we were racing part time and then he had his injuries. It is great to have him back. It is good for the sport to have him back and he is just a good race car driver and I am looking forward to finishing out the year with him.”
In trying to learn the ropes of the series, Blaney has looked to his teammates for advice, and credits Keselowski as his mentor and someone he looks up to.
“Brad was a driver that I looked up to before he got with Team Penske when he was running for Finch in the 09 car,” Blaney said. “When he won that race at Talladega it was like, wow, people really didn’t know who Brad was and then he goes and wins this Cup race at Talladega in a wild finish at that race track and that is when I kind of first noticed him. When he got to the Penske organization, I think in 2010, when he was winning races and then a championship, I was racing late models. I looked up to him. He is a great race car driver. His outlook on things was more unique and kind of a different outlook than most people and I thought that was neat and changed my mindset. I knew who Brad was and looked up to him a lot before I even started racing for him. When I got to be a part of his team he was a big mentor for me of helping me out, not only in the trucks but in the XFINITY cars too. He is still helping me out and is a good friend of mine. It is great to have someone like that who can help you along the way.”
Blaney went on to add that Keselowski has a unique outlook on everything, and brings a different perspective during conversations.
“If you talk to him about anything, not even a racing issue, it makes you step back,” he said. “It is a different way of thinking and it makes him very smart as a race car person and a human being and that is something I try to apply, not only to racing but my personal life as well.”
