Ryan Blaney was raised around racing, often traveling with his NASCAR driving dad, Dave Blaney, to events. He said he won his first race when he was around 9 and idolized drivers like Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.
“I obviously watched races every single weekend religiously and loved the champions of the sport when I was a kid,” Blaney said. “I just wanted to be those guys.”
Blaney went from watching those guys become champions to becoming one himself when he won the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series in his eighth season. Blaney visited Chicago to help promote the second Chicago Street Race, set for July 6-7.
But despite winning the series, Blaney believes it’s harder to repeat than to win for the first time.
“We have to figure out how to do it again, but that’s that’s even harder than trying to get the first one,” Blaney said.
Though, Blaney said, there are advantages to having won a championship.
“You have a decent idea of what it takes to get there,” Blaney said. “When you’re trying to win another one, you hold yourself to such high standards, so I feel like there’s some pressure when you’re expected to do it again, so I think that adds another piece to it.”
There hasn’t been a back-to-back Cup Series winner since Johnson in 2008-09. Blaney is now the hunted. Every driver will be looking to knock him off his perch atop the sport.
During his visit to Chicago, Blaney said he enjoyed being part of the first Chicago Street Race.
“It was cool to be in the city once we got there and to hear the buzz around the race,” Blaney said. “To firsthand see the excitement of everyone around the city — whether it was their first race or they’ve been some before, they’re diehards — it was just cool to see that kind of mixture.”
Because of the unique nature of the track, drivers were able to get a view of the skyline and other Chicago monuments.
“You’re running up towards the Chicago museum and then going back to the skyscrapers downtown,” Blaney said. “It was just such a neat visual to me.”
Blaney said he knows that racers will be more competitive this season, but he’s ready to embrace it. He said it’s helpful having experienced the Street Race with its various potholes because NASCAR drivers are used to smooth surfaces.
“It was a unique experience in itself to figuring out the rough city streets,” Blaney said. “You’re dealing with potholes and manhole covers that are welded down, but they’re still big bumps. So it’s like, ‘Alright, how do you navigate through this?’ People enjoy challenges and new things, and I thought that was fun to work through it.”
