Summer stride: Ryan Blaney, Team Penske apply the heat with midseason momentum

A radio transmission from Ryan Blaney after his first win of the season five weeks ago at Iowa Speedway suggested a new spark for the season. His message to the Team Penske No. 12 crew hinted that their group was poised to dominate the summer, indicating their NASCAR Cup Series championship pursuit might start earlier than last year.

It may not be the Summer of Blaney just yet, but a strong performance in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway may have planted the first beach umbrella in the sand.

“I feel like the last two months we’ve been spectacular,” Blaney said post-race. The speed in his No. 12 Ford and in Team Penske’s three-car fleet overall has underscored that feeling. An understandable unwillingness to relive last season’s midpoint slump has also been a motivator.

Blaney won the Coca-Cola 600 last year at Charlotte Motor Speedway, then went 16 consecutive races without another top-five finish—a slump that stretched through September and into the Cup Series Playoffs. The team eventually gained momentum in the postseason’s later rounds, resulting in Blaney’s first Cup Series crown. This year, their objective has been to find that stride earlier.

“Gosh, we’ve done our homework since Charlotte and figured out how to compete with the Hendrick boys and the Gibbs guys, 23XI. We’re right there,” Blaney said, acknowledging the teams mentioned last weekend as Pocono’s pre-race favorites. “Last summer, we struggled a bit trying to find things that would work for us come playoff time. I had to sit around all summer hearing people say that we sucked. We didn’t want that this year.”

It’s been quite the turnaround within the Roger Penske-owned organization and for Ford in general. The automaker opened the year with a 0-for-12 winless streak for its new Dark Horse Mustang model but has now won five of the last nine Cup Series races, evening the playing field.

No. 12 crew chief Jonathan Hassler noted the progress the organization had made, learning the handling and aerodynamic nuances related to the new Mustang’s nose design. Teammate Joey Logano’s springtime test at North Wilkesboro Speedway boosted their short-track program, and gaining speed on intermediate and larger ovals was the next goal.

Sunday’s strategy was the other key at Pocono. Hassler said the way caution periods fell in Stage 2 allowed the No. 12 team to short-pit and flip the final stage for track position. Blaney led the final 44 laps, even if Hassler had flashbacks to last month’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway, where the No. 12 sputtered out of fuel at the white flag.

“I was definitely more nervous today,” Hassler said. “You lose one on the last lap, and you certainly get an appreciation for it’s not over till you take the checkered.”

Blaney appreciated the team effort, saying, “it takes a village to make a race team successful” in his post-race remarks. He also recognized the full-circle nature of Sunday’s victory at the site of his first Cup Series win with the Wood Brothers in the 2017 season. That triumph launched the then-23-year-old driver to the next level as he fended off veterans Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. Blaney, who turned 30 during the offseason, noted that his Cup Series win total now matches his car number at 12.

“I feel like every win is very special. You have to cherish them. You never know when the next one is going to come,” Blaney said. “Hard to believe it’s been seven years since I won the first time here. Time definitely flies.”

Finding a summer streak has also been a team-wide effort, with Team Penske placing all three of its cars on the provisional playoff grid in rapid succession. When Blaney’s fuel tank ran dry at Gateway, teammate Austin Cindric capitalized as the first Penske driver to lock in. Blaney followed two weeks later in Iowa, and just two more weeks passed when Logano completed the team trifecta in a five-overtime thriller in Nashville.

Blaney acknowledged that performance swings come in waves and that the Cup Series balance of power can shift accordingly. Timing it right has been a Team Penske tendency of late, with Blaney (2023) and Logano (2022) claiming the title in consecutive campaigns.

“It’s just a matter of peaking at a good time. We’ve been able to do that the last two months, getting all of us in Victory Lane,” Blaney said. “You just hope to continue that. This team does a really good job of not getting complacent. Good or bad, they’re always working towards the future. The end goal is the season finale in Phoenix. I feel like this is just fueling the fire for us. We’re running really well right now, so let’s keep going, keep the hammer down, continue to run really well in these races, and be in contention to win.”

Sunday’s victory culminated a busy week of appearances and exposure for Blaney. He crisscrossed the country to take in The Today Show, serve as a presenter and nominee at the ESPY Awards, and participate in a panel discussion for Variety & Sportico’s Sports & Entertainment Summit.

These visits put Blaney in front of new audiences who might not have been as familiar with NASCAR’s reigning champ. But on Sunday, he also took time to savor the moment with the Pocono faithful who packed the grandstands on a sunny summer afternoon.

“Yeah, been fortunate to have some cool opportunities and draw eyes,” Blaney said. “You try to appreciate the people that are new to the sport, and you also try to show thanks to the people who have been around the sport for a long time. That’s why I stood in Victory Lane for 30 minutes signing autographs, to appreciate the people who came out, camped all weekend, and brought their families. We can’t do it without them folks. Sold-out campground, grandstands—that’s the way this sport should be. I think it’s on a great path right now. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”