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Ryan Blaney opens up about the team's atmosphere during the season after winning the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway last week.
A P2 finish ahead of fellow championship was enough for him to collect his first-ever NASCAR title. This was a tremendous accomplishment for a driver and a #12 Team Penske Ford driver that struggled to find speed in the first and latter half of the 2023 regular season.
In an interview with FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, Blaney explained how they overcame frustrating periods through various parts of the campaign and found the speed they needed to claim the title.
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“And everyone just did a lot of hard work. Should be proud of the work they put in through the end of the summer to get to the playoffs. They had a deadline. We were like, 'We need to find something to be competitive in the playoffs because how we’re running right now is not going to get the job done,'” he said.
“Did the job. They met that deadline. And once the playoffs rolled around, we found the speed we needed to. Especially in the last half of the playoffs.”
“There was a lot of pride to be felt” – Ryan Blaney after the first win of the season
The #12 Ford driver entered the 2023 season as underdog because he had a 59-race winless streak before winning the Coca-Cola 600 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
However, after the Charlotte victory, Ryan Blaney suddenly came into title contention, just as long as he found consistency in the final two rounds of the playoffs.
“Internally, in our group, there was a lot of pride to be felt because we won the 600 in Charlotte, things are looking pretty decent [in May], and then we just go through a little time of just struggling and just having no speed,” Blaney said.
“And it can get frustrating internally and with us, too, because it’s like, where are we getting beat? What’s the biggest part of us lacking speed, where do we go?”
Ryan Blaney was at his best in the final six races of the season, registering two wins, a top-10, and two runner-up finishes.
Team Penske now has two consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championships for the first time with Joey Logano’s second-career title last year.
