Ryan Blaney has not won a NASCAR Cup Series points race in 55 starts. It is the second longest in the series behind Brad Keselowski (70), dating back to late 2021 in the summer race at Daytona International Speedway.
The Team Penske driver is well aware. Choosing to not focus on it goes deeper than not being concerned about the drought.
“It can definitely eat away at your confidence,” Blaney said Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, where he is a two-time winner. “Confidence is a big deal in this thing, and it’s easy to lose it when you’re not performing or not winning. It makes you think, ‘Can I still do this? Can I be competitive at this level? Am I doing everything I can?’
“That definitely can eat at you, but I try not to think about that. I’m not the most confident person to begin with, so I try not to get it any lower than what it is on a normal basis.”
Not a confident person? Chalk one up for the honest tab.
“I could definitely be more confident. It’s just been that way the whole time,” he explained. “My dad (Dave Blaney) is the same way. We’re the same people — very self-critical. I think there’s a fine line between confidence and ego, and I don’t ever want to get to the ego level, so I stay low on the confidence scale.”
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Blaney celebrated a win last year, but it was in the All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway where he and the No. 12 team took home the $1 million prize, the trophy, and bragging rights…but no points.
When the regular season was decided in Daytona, that nearly cost him. Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. went down to the wire for the final playoff spot as the Penske driver was the only non-winner in the postseason.
“Honestly, the only time I think about it is when y’all ask me about it,” he said. “Or when the fans are like, ‘When are you going to win again? I’ve been putting money on you.’ Yeah, I’d like to win. We’re trying like hell. It’s not like we’re sitting here happy with fifth.
“I don’t sit around every night and stew about it, I just try to figure out how to win the next one.”
In his last 55 starts, Blaney has 27 top-10 finishes and three runner-up efforts (fall Talladega 2022; Phoenix finale 2022; Phoenix spring 2023). In that stretch, he has led 771 laps.
“Our group can do it; we won a championship last year with Joey (Logano) on their side, and this team is plenty capable,” said Blaney. “It’s just a matter of putting everything together.”