"Not going to have 10 wins anymore" - $12M Ryan Blaney on struggles to dominate with next-gen car

NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 - Qualifying
Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on May 04, 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

2023 Cup Series Champion Ryan Blaney thinks the probability of drivers dominating a season with 10 wins is subdued since the introduction of Next-gen cars in NASCAR.

The No.12 driver for Team Penske Blaney secured his first Cup Series Championship in 2023 after three wins throughout the season. Whereas, William Byron, #24 driver for Hendrick Motorsports (HMS), managed to bag a total of six wins. Blaney recently shared his opinion when asked about the possibility of "star-making" moments since the launch of Next-gen cars in 2022.

In the interview by Frontstretch, the reporter questioned the $12-million worth (according to Celebrity Net Worth) Ryan Blaney:

"Do you think The Next-gen Car has limited these "star-making" moments in seasons? Like the last 10(wins) in one season was Kyle Larson"(3:39)

Here, the Frontstretch reporter mentioned the dominating season by Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson in 2021 who won a total of 10 races and got 26 top-10 finishes in 36 starts on his way to winning the Cup Series Championship.

"You're just not going to have 10 wins anymore, I mean, Byron(HMS driver) had six last year. It was an amazing year. You're just not going to see those like eight-nine race wins in a season anymore," Blaney said. (4:04)
"With this car, it's just so hard to do and um it's just the tools that you're given from the teams it's like hard to set yourself apart I mean you can you can set yourself apart but it's not by like miles," added Blaney (5:20)

Team Penske's 30-year-old Blaney believes it is hard to dominate throughout the year as there are many fluctuations in a season unlike before 2022, where one could understand that a particular team was a strong contender to win the championship just after a couple of races.

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A brief look into Ryan Blaney's 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season

The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney is yet to win a single race this 2024 season.

The Ohio native, who currently drives the #12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, is the only Ford driver in the top 10 of the overall standings of the Cup Series. He sits at P7 with four top-five and five top-ten finishes.

Blaney is set to start the race in 26th place at the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on May 5th. The race was supposed to begin at 3 p.m. ET but is currently delayed due to rain and is on hold until NASCAR dries the track.

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Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer
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