If you look up “consistency” in the NASCAR dictionary, you could probably find a picture of Ryan Blaney. With an average finish of 14.8 in his seven full-time seasons, he’s definitely been one to watch come championship season, especially after joining Team Penske in 2018.
But as he enters 2023, the Hartford, Ohio native has just seven wins to his name in as many full-time seasons. His best campaign was in 2021, scoring three wins: at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway. He had one win per season leading up to 2021, beginning in 2017 when he nabbed his first career win at Pocono Raceway with Wood Brothers Racing.
However, Blaney was winless in 2022 (aside from the All-Star Race), which saw him as the lone driver to make the playoffs on points. Meanwhile, his rookie teammate Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 en route to Rookie of the Year honors, and all his other teammate Joey Logano did was capture his second championship in five seasons. Blaney has to find a way to solidify himself in the Team Penske lineup or else the Captain needs to reevaluate his stable.
Blaney arguably should have won more races to this point, but he and his No. 12 team have had trouble putting together complete races. But therein lies the problem – “almost” race wins aren’t race wins. If “almost” wins counted, this conversation wouldn’t be a question. But seven wins, with three of them coming on superspeedways, isn’t exactly an impressive resume (unless you’re Jamie McMurray, where almost 30% of your wins are crown jewels).
The fact that Blaney hasn’t felt even a little bit of heat for his lack of wins is astounding, considering people have criticized Alex Bowman for not winning at Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman has the same amount of wins as Blaney in five full-time seasons with Hendrick Motorsports (his first two seasons were with BK Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing, respectively, so we won’t count those).
Bowman received a three-year contract extension a few weeks ago and quieted the talk that he should be replaced, but the thought is still there. Blaney also signed a contract extension with Team Penske last August, but so far hasn’t delivered any wins to the Captain.
If Logano is the team’s flagship driver after Brad Keselowski departed the team at the end of 2021, and Cindric is the solidified young gun of the group, then what does that make Blaney? A veteran…
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