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Ryan Blaney on how he got better, how to fix the racing and more: 12 Questions

Ryan Blaney on how he got better, how to fix the racing and more: 12 Questions

New York Times3 days ago

Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske. This interview has been edited and condensed, but the full version is available on the 12 Questions Podcast. New this week: The podcast is now available as an RSS feed, not just The Athletic app.
1. What was one of the first autographs you got as a kid, and what do you remember about that moment?
Mark Martin signed my shirt. I was at driver intros with Dad (driver Dave Blaney) somewhere and I asked Mark to sign my shirt. I loved Mark Martin, and I just thought it was super cool. I was really fortunate to be at driver intros with my dad when I was younger and get to meet all the guys. I had Mark sign it, and that was one of the most sought-after autographs in my book.
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2. What is the most miserable you've ever been inside of a race car?
Phoenix fall race, 2019. We were in the Round of 8, trying to get to Homestead. Essentially had to win. We ran third, but I had the flu and obviously I didn't feel good at all. I was hydrating all day, but then in the car I didn't sweat anything out — so I had to pee really bad. Not only was I sick as a dog, I had to pee really bad. I thought my bladder was going to burst and I felt like crap. Those two things compounded on each other definitely doesn't make for a fun race.
3. Outside of racing, what is your most recent memory of something you got way too competitive about?
Golf. Playing with your buddies, got some money on the line. That's really the only thing outside of racing I get really competitive about.
Didn't you say before The Masters you went to Augusta and shot like an 80?
I think my best score out there was 82. You don't want to get too competitive there. The most competitive is like when you're at your local muni with your buddies and there's $100 on the line.
You can't toss your clubs at Augusta.
No, you don't want to do that. You won't be invited back.
4. What do people get wrong about you?
I do it to myself a little bit, but if I have a little thing on the radio and I get frustrated, people are like, 'Oh, he's losing his mind.' That's not really the case. I have my 10 seconds of frustration, and I just have to let it out. Listen to other guys, man. There are guys way worse than me. And it's not me losing my mind. I just have to get it out, and it's how I move on past things. If I don't get it out, it just bundles up.
It's weird, because I'm not like that out of the car. Like at home, I don't ever get to that point. I don't really ever get frustrated with much stuff outside the car. But when I'm competing, people get that wrong. It's not really losing my mind. It's my own way of getting everything out in the open that I need to. I wish people didn't hear it, but everyone does it to their own extent.
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It's your pop-off valve.
Yeah, man. The steam is building up, something happens and I just have to let it out. People are like, 'Don't push the (radio) button.' It feels way better when you push the button. You have to let someone else hear it. But I just get it out, and then I'm back to where I need to be. If I don't, I just think about it too much.
5. What kind of Uber passenger are you and how much do you care about your Uber rating?
I don't ever cause problems. I'm appreciative for this person picking me up and giving me a ride, because most of the time you Uber, you're under the influence, so you need a ride home and you're thankful to that person for getting me home safe. I always try to be grateful to that person, be polite and respectful.
If I'm with buddies and they're raising hell, I'm like, 'Dude, calm down. This person is helping us out.' I have a really good Uber rating. You didn't have to come pick me up.
6. I'm doing a wild-card question for each person. So for awhile you were getting one win a year, one win a year, one win a year. Then you burst out into three a year, three a year. Now on a weekly basis, you're one of the biggest regular threats, no matter where we go. So what do you think was the most important thing for you to unlock the next level of your potential?
We really turned the page in '21. I was in this (situation) of just one win a year and only showing signs of being competitive a handful of weeks a year. It was like, 'All right, what do I have to change about myself and how I approach and run these races to be better? I have to take the next step forward.'
It was really just talks with myself like, 'Hey, I don't like the way you do this. This needs to be better. You're stuck in your ways and you need to get better at that.' It's a tough thing to do … but it's necessary to do.
In the winter of '22, I had to look and be like, 'All right, I need to change this up.' And then we went and won the championship the next year.
7. This is my 16th year of doing these 12 Questions interviews, so I'm going back to an early interview I've done with each person. (In 2014), I asked you: 'If someone let you design a new racetrack with an unlimited budget, what would you build?' You said a road course with crazy banking. Is that still what you'd build?
Yeah, I think you could have a road course with a ton of different style corners. Like Turn 4 (in Mexico City), that long right-hander, if you bank the top lane where it's like a progressive banking. Charlotte (Roval) is somewhat that way (with the banking), but it's not like a corner. At Charlotte (on the banking), you're running wide open. It's not part of a technical lifting point, and it's like a sharper corner. That'd be neat (to have one).
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Then you have your Talladega Superspeedway-style long corner to where you're drafting up a little bit. Then you have some tight hairpins and stuff. So I'd stick with that design of the road course with some crazy banking in it and a bunch of different styles. A decade later, I'd say the same thing.
8. Other than one of your teammates, name a driver who you would be one of the first people to congratulate them in victory lane if they won a race.
I always go to victory lane if I'm still in the race for when Bubba (Wallace) or Chase (Elliott) wins. I always try to go there. And it's vice versa for them, which is always neat. We've always just done that with each other.
But then if you go get your first Cup win, that's kind of cool. I'll go up there and congratulate you. Like when (Daniel) Suárez got his first one at Sonoma, I walked down there and congratulated him. And there's been a few like Ricky (Stenhouse) when he won the (Daytona) 500, you go congratulate those guys.
9. How much do you use AI technology, whether for your job or your daily life?
Man, not a lot. I think I've used ChatGPT twice. I actually asked it a question last week. I had a question on this home thing. I said, 'Hey, Chat, my wife and I just bought this house.' I (had) a question about cleaning service or inspection. … And it was super nice. It was like, 'Hi Ryan, congratulations on your new home! Here is what is typically done.'
… You've got to be friendly to it. You don't want it to come bite you in 10 years. If you're kind of a jerk to Chat, if you're a jerk to AI, you've got to keep them on your side when they take over everything.
10. What is a time in your life that was really challenging, but you feel proud of the way that you responded to it?
The most recent one was the '24 championship race. We ran second. Really close. Bummer. You're bummed out. But Joey (Logano, his teammate) and the (No.) 22 (team) won it, Roger (Penske) won another championship. I'm not tooting my own horn, but those are easy ones to brush off and be like, 'Damn it. That sucks.' And it does stink. But in the post-race stuff, I was pretty good and congratulated all those guys — which I was happy for them and Roger. If we're gonna lose to anybody, it's your teammates.
11. What needs to happen in NASCAR to take this sport to the next level of popularity?
We're starting it (in Mexico City). I've always been a big advocate of international to some extent, whether it's north, south, head east — that's a big thing.
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But it's hard, man. How do you draw people in? That's a job I don't want to have: How do you draw people to your sport, no matter what it is? Just showing a good product is important. And explaining the product — racing is hard to explain to a lot of people who didn't do it growing up, because you can't go to a park and drive a race car, unlike basketball or football or baseball. There's not a lot of traveling rec leagues.
So it's a really hard position to explain the technical side and how these cars are not what you buy off a lot and you're just driving them around in circles. There's so much behind the scenes and backstory. So how do you explain that? We've been doing a good job of doing that with Netflix to an extent, and showing drivers' personalities more. Amazon has been doing a good job of showing more ins and outs of it.
So continuing to show more in-depth about it is really important, along with going into places that you haven't been before.
12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next person. The last one was with Christopher Bell. He says: 'What are your thoughts on the current rules package — aero and horsepower, all three track types — and what should we go to if you want something different.
Oh God! (Laughs.) What are my thoughts? Obviously, I wish it was a little bit better. You're always going to want something better. Obviously, the horsepower thing is a no-brainer. I wish we got back up in there.
But the Xfinity (Series) cars have less horsepower than we have, and I wish we could (do what they do) — and we could do this with the old car. I wish you could get people loose on the left rear again. Kind of drive the car in front of you where if you're close, you can get on the left rear quarterpanel and get them loose, get them off the bottom and go on.
… Getting loose underneath somebody right now, the inside guy actually has the advantage because he just uses that guy up on the top and the top guy gets tight. End of story. That's why you see a ton of dive bombs; people use them up because the inside guy doesn't really get loose anymore. It affects the outside guy more.
The next interview I'm doing is with your buddy, Chase Elliott. Do you have a question I can ask Chase?
When are you ever going to get better at golf, and what is it going to take for you to get to a point where you can compete with me? How many hours do you have to put in to get to my level?
(Top photo of Ryan Blaney celebrating his win in the Nashville Cup Series race in early June: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)

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