"Don't really have to worry about points anymore": Ryan Blaney extremely clear about his playoff 'mindset' amid the road to championship format

Ryan Blaney has commented on his playoff mindset entering the 35th Cup Series race weekend at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Even though the Team Penske driver is currently below the cutline, he spoke about having an unchanged approach for the upcoming playoff race.

The defending Cup Series champion secured a tenth-place finish at Charlotte Roval to punch his Round of 8 ticket. However, the Las Vegas weekend turned out to be a disappointing affair for the #12 Ford driver. The brutal practice crash combined with Blaney getting collected in the cascading effect of Tyler Reddick's wreck, ended his day in P32. Thus, he is now 47 points below the cutline.

In the latest playoff system since 2014, the driver need not worry much about points as they get reset after every third race, with the race winner in each round getting an automatic advancement. The situation before 2014 was quite challenging, as the champion was decided based on the final 10-race-aggregate, making every battle's impact significant.

When asked about his approach for the upcoming races, Ryan Blaney said he need not worry about points anymore, despite not having a favorable standing in the rankings. He said (via Frontstrech).

"It's a scenario where I'm pretty out of it on points, I'm not going to make up 40 something points, you're not going to get that lucky to where the guys are going to have big blowups the next two weeks. We've kind of approached this round like a must-win." 3(3:07).

He added:

"The mindset doesn't change, we don't really have to worry about points anymore, so that's another thing we don't have to think about. We came in here, want to win, understand that we need to win one of these three races and now we just need to win one of the two races." (3:38).

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Blaney will kick off his Homestead-Miami run from 20th place.

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"We have to really rely on each other": Ryan Blaney comments on collaboration with teammate Joey Logano as a primal factor for success

Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano are the veteran drivers on Team Penske's roster. The former joined Roger Penske's garage on a full-time schedule in 2018, after exiting from Wood Brothers Racing. The latter has been with the team since the 2013 season, after parting ways with Joe Gibbs Racing.

The duo have closely worked for seven seasons thus far, and according to Blaney, their relationship has become better year after year. A testament to it can be traced to the playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway where Blaney pushed Logano to the victory, outperforming the Trackhouse Racing drafting duos of Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain.

Emphasizing their collaboration as a significant factor for their team's success, the reigning Cup Series champion said via Frontstretch

"You can't just be three separate entities doing your own thing. What's the point of having a three-four car team if you're doing that? That's just kind of been the Penske way here. It's just [we] all try to rely on each other and use each other's skills to build your own and help grow the whole thing healthy. Its something where we understand the deal and we understand that we want to be successful for Roger [Penske] and to do that you have to work togethe.," (6:14).

While Ryan Blaney's Championship 4 ticket is in jeopardy, Logano has secured his Phoenix berth, courtesy of his Las Vegas win.