Ryan Blaney sees no standout superstar in NASCAR in 2024: "You don’t have guys winning 10 races anymore"

Ryan Blaney recently weighed in on the subject of superstars in NASCAR in 2024. Throughout the history of NASCAR, the sport has been defined and headlined by eras of superstar drivers like Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, and more.

But in the current era, there's no one standout superstar. In fact, as per NASCAR's defending Cup champion, everyone is a superstar. Ryan Blaney said (via Kansas City Star):

“We’re all superstars. Every driver. Everyone is special in their own right. Everyone is successful with how they’ve approached everything. Some branch out more than others in different aspects outside the racetrack and some decide to stick around the racetracks and grow their stardom there with the fans at the racetrack, so everyone approaches it differently."

The Team Penske driver pointed to the Gordon era in the 90s when the 4x Cup champion was "the biggest star". However, now, Blaney believes times have changed. And a big reason for that is the new car.

"The times are different. You don’t have guys winning 10 races anymore. This car doesn’t allow that, so how do you separate yourself to make yourself stand out? How do you make yourself different from the rest of the drivers who are all really good at what they do?" he added.

Blaney believes becoming a superstar starts with success on the racetrack and then the teams and the sport marketing the driver with that narrative. He also mentioned that no driver has to be singled out and be made the next superstar of NASCAR.

To Blaney, in the current era, the sport can have 36 superstars.

"I think that’s definitely possible," he said.

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Kyle Petty doesn't believe NASCAR has any superstars today

Former driver Kyle Petty, who understands a thing or two about being a superstar in NASCAR considering who his father is, recently claimed that in the current era of sport, there are none. Petty explained that while NASCAR today has great drivers, they aren't superstars.

“We have a lot of phenomenal race car drivers in our sport. I’m telling you, and all of them aren’t running up front let me tell you that. A lot of them don’t get their due. They are great race car drivers. But we don’t have superstar race car drivers, we just don’t."

"And we’ve not had a superstar race car driver in a long time in this sport, the way I look at it. Somebody who just transcends the sport and can go do other things, away from the sport, that brings eyes to the sport. I just don’t see that," Petty described on Out of the Groove with Eric Estepp.

Petty wondered how a driver could establish himself as a superstar in the Next Gen era when all they can do is win 4 or 5 races a year. This is something Petty believes the teams and NASCAR have to figure out if they want to create new superstars.