Ryan Blaney “very proud” to make his 300th Cup Series appearance with Team Penske at Texas Motor Speedway

NASCAR heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend with Ryan Blaney set to make his 300th Cup Series start in the #12 Team Penske Ford Mustang.

Blaney's journey in the Cup Series began in the #12 Penske Ford almost a decade ago when he made his debut at Kansas Speedway in 2014. He made another start in the car later in the year before joining Wood Brothers Racing, where he got a full-time role in 2016.

Ryan Blaney was reunited with Team Penske when he got to drive the #12 Ford full-time from the 2018 season onwards. Six years later, Blaney has now reached a major milestone in his career and is proud to be racing for the team, as he makes his 300th start.

"Also, very proud to be making my 300th @NASCAR Cup Start this weekend @TXMotorSpeedway with my family @Team_Penske and @FordPerformance @FordMustang."

Ryan Blaney reflected on his first NASCAR Cup Series start with Team Penske 10 years ago. He remarked that he's been in the sport for long and how time flies past so quickly.

“I remember the first one and it’s crazy,” he said to NASCAR.com. “Time flies really quickly. And it seems like just yesterday, I was running at Kansas in my first Cup race, but really amazing. Been fortunate to be with such a great group from the Wood Brothers to Penske, who’s given me opportunities to make it this far."

Blaney has racked up seven victories in his career, six of them coming in Penske machinery. He added about his journey with the team:

“It goes by really quickly, especially when you’re surrounded by really great people. And I’ve been having fun and I’ve had some decent success. So it is wild that we’re already here. But it is really cool to be at this spot and hopefully we can make it a special 300th start.”

Ryan Blaney is projected to surpass his father Dave Blaney's 473 starts in 2028 and reckons that milestone will be a "big one" for him personally.

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Ryan Blaney hoping to get his first points-paying win at Texas Motor Speedway

The #12 Team Penske driver has an impressive record at the 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth but has never reached the victory lane in a points-paying race. Ryan Blaney has won the 2022 All-Star race on the track.

Having broken his winless streak on the mile-and-half oval at Charlotte earlier in the year, Blaney is hoping to win his second race of the season at Texas.

“I loved the old track and then when they redid it (in 2017), it still just kind of suited what we do and suited my driving style well,” said Blaney.

“It suited what we do at Team Penske pretty decent to where we’ve led tons of laps there. Winning the All-Star Race was great and having good runs in the points races is really good. We just haven’t really been able to close it out. But you never know; you just hope you do your homework.”

Catch Blaney and others live in action in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 this Sunday at 3:30 pm ET.