Ryan Blaney eager to celebrate Nashville win with Roger Penske after IndyCar controversy

This win for Ryan Blaney and Team Penske could not have happened at a better time, and he’s excited to share it with The Captain. Roger Penske had to make tough decisions last week after the Indy 500 attenuator scandal that resulted in three high-level employees losing their jobs, including Tim Cindric.

Ryan Blaney had been so close to winning this season. Before tonight’s race at Nashville, he had five top-five finishes. He also had five DNFs. Not a fun way to go through the first half of the regular season.

Team Penske has been under a lot of pressure. This 12-team has been under a lot of pressure. Each of his teammates, including Josh Berry of the Wood Brothers, has already won a race this year. Now, it’s Blaney’s turn to celebrate.

“You know, I hated it for those folks over there, you know, last week in Indy, and you know, for those guys [that] have to go through that. The people who got let go were really prominent figures in the company, and it definitely stunk. But on our side, we just focused on kind of what we were doing, and RP told us all, ‘Things happen and we’ve done things about them and we’re going to move forward. What’s the next step, and how do we move on from this?’

“Yeah, I mean, it was, we had to hear all week that Penske cars are bad because the IndyCar guys got caught and that’s why we were bad at Charlotte, and then we come here tonight and kick everyone’s ass. So, the ebbs and flows of this sport, it’s crazy. But it’s nice to, I’m excited to talk to Roger, because it’s been a tough couple of weeks for him. I’m really excited to talk to him on the phone tonight and share some joy with him.”

Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano prove Penske doubters wrong

Ryan Blaney and his crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, stuck to their guns. They trusted in the team, and tonight it all paid off. It also helped that Hassler quickly figured out that two tire pit stops could be used to gain track position. Blaney and teammate Austin Cindric both ran long in Stage 1 before pitting.

Last week, the Penske cars were off the pace. It only fed into the narrative that the IndyCar scandal was plaguing the NASCAR team as well. Tonight, Blaney scored 54 points and picked up a stage win. Logano scored 42 points, finished P4, and scored points in both stages as well. Like the Blaney said, they kind of kicked everyone’s asses. Especially the 12 team.

Roger Penske is going to bask in this win. His organization, both IndyCar and NASCAR, needed to get out from under the shadow of the Indy 500 stuff. It just wasn’t helping anyone to have that linger over the program.

Tonight was a strong performance from Ryan Blaney. Yes, traffic made it tough to pass at the end. Yes, Carson Hocevar probably gets at least a chance to attempt a pass at a wider track like last week at Charlotte. But that’s not what Nashville is. Blaney did what he had to do to win, and during Stage 2, we had a badass battle between him, Denny Hamlin, and William Byron. Onto Michigan.