“Last 2 years on paper looks good”: Influencer makes his belief clear about NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney's potential to ‘explode this season'

Renowned NASCAR influencer Eric Estepp believes that Ryan Blaney has the potential to 'explode' this season. In his recent YouTube video, Estepp touched upon the Team Penske driver and stated that the #12 driver has the ability to exceed his previous performance and be even better in 2025.

Blaney has been instrumental to Team Penske's success in the last couple of years. In 2023, he won three races and clinched his first Cup Series championship. In 2024, he claimed three races again and finished as runners-up behind his teammate, Joey Logano.

As Blaney has been in top-form, especially during the playoffs, Estepp expects the Penske driver to rise to the occasion and hunt for 'five or six' race wins and a second Cup Series championship in 2025. Speaking about this, he said in his YouTube video,

"I think Ryan Blaney has the potential to explode this season. He's won three races in the past two seasons. Is this the year he wins five or six? I think he's capable of it. Really, the last two years on paper it looked really good. It's really been the last year and two months, really. Ryan Blaney had a good 2023. He didn't look great until the end of the playoffs, the final like six weeks, I remember where he won two of the last six and I think he had a couple of runner up finishes, obviously won the championship, got it done in the clutch."

"Like Ryan Blaney's Herculean 2023 playoff run has looked fantastic. 2024, he was really good again. I mentioned, he won Iowa for example, was in contention to win other races like Getaway before he ran out of fuel and his teammate swooped in to take the victory. He was running down Joey Logano in the closing laps at Phoenix. For a while I thought Ryan Blaney was about to go back-to-back championship wins since Jimmie Johnson," he added. (4:56-6:15)

Blaney joined Team Penske in 2018 and has won at least one race every season except 2022. His consistent performance and steady improvement make him a strong contender for the 2025 Cup Series title.

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Ryan Blaney aims to stay on top in NASCAR

The last couple of years have been eventful for Team Penske driver, Ryan Blaney. In 2023, he finished first, and the next year he ended up being the runner-up. As such, he is optimistic about staying on top in the upcoming season.

Ryan Blaney (12) during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway - Source: Imagn

Speaking about this, Blaney said,

“I wouldn’t say championship or bust. It’s been a great three years. From Joey [Logano] getting a couple, me getting my first, a lot of race wins between us,” Blaney said. “So not championship or bust. It’d be nice to stay on top of the peak here, so we just got to keep working hard to try to stay there.” (As per wkbn.com)

Blaney is all set to continue with Team Penske in 2025 and will be in charge of the #12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry alongside teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric.