(Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Ryan Blaney has had one of the strongest years of his career, but he doesn’t have anything to show for it.
Blaney, 28, sits second in driver’s points with two races left in the regular season. He should be one of the sure-fire championship favorites, right? That’s only if he can make the playoffs.
Despite his consistent season, Blaney is winless and sits on the playoff cutline. A new winner at Watkins Glen (Sunday, August 21 at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network) would put him in a must-win situation in the regular-season finale next week at Daytona. A new winner at Daytona likely eliminates his playoff hopes altogether.
Though Blaney’s championship hopes may already be on the line, he isn’t losing any sleep about it.
“You can’t stress yourself out about it,” Blaney said in a press conference on Saturday. “It is either going to happen or it isn’t, whether you make the playoffs or not. There are only two choices, two options. You can’t stress out about the negatives if you don’t make it. If you stress yourself out about that then your mind is set on that you aren’t going to make it.”
Blaney is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes in the last two weeks. He finished fifth at Michigan after winning the race last year and finished 10th at Richmond, a place where he admittedly struggles.
Blaney is competing with Martin Truex Jr., who finished seventh last week, for the final playoff spot. However, Blaney scored more stage points and extended his lead over Truex Jr. to 26 points.
Many drivers like to short-pit stages at Watkins Glen, but a driver like Blaney could consider staying out to earn stage points. It could inch him closer to pointing his way in if there aren’t any new winners before the playoffs.
“The road courses are a big opportunity to get stage points,” Blaney said. “This is a great place to do it. I look back at Road America and we were really bad, really far off. But we decided during that race that since we were far off and not going anywhere from where we qualified that we would stay out in stages and ended up winning a stage and clawed our way back to finish 11th by the end of the race.
“Stage points are obviously really important and we have done a good job at getting those throughout the year to keep us in a decent position but a lot of it is making a decision in the moment. You have a plan but sometimes that plan doesn’t really work out and you have to improvise.”
But, Blaney is keeping the same mindset he’s had all season.
“It is the same mindset as the second or third race of the year,” Blaney said. “It is just the time of year as to why it gets talked about more, obviously. You always want to win races and do well in stages and beat everybody else. There is really no way to approach it any differently.
“We can’t control anyone else’s day. I can’t control Martin’s (Truex Jr.) day, he can’t control mine or anyone else in the field. You just focus on yourself the best you can and go out and try to do what you normally would do and try to figure out a way to win the race and do well.”
New Contract
Blaney agreed to a “long-term” contract extension with Team Penske this week.
Blaney is in his fifth full-time season with Penske after two seasons with Wood Brothers Racing, its sister team. He has seven career victories, including three last season.
“It is great to announce that and awesome to continue with Penske,” Blaney said. “It has been a really cool 10 years and I am looking forward to continue that on for a long time. It is great to get that out there, obviously the silly season side of it, it is nice to not be in those talks and have a home because they have been like family to me and I look forward to carrying on with them.”
Blaney said he never considered exploring his options with other teams.
“There was really never thought of talking to anybody else,” Blaney said. “I have been there so long and they have been so great to me and a family to me.
“I really didn’t want to go anywhere. I couldn’t see myself anywhere else. I am really happy where I am at, surrounded by great men and women and I am really happy that they feel the same and want me around.”
