Ryan Blaney did a lot of things exceptionally well en route to the NASCAR Cup Series championship on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway but staying emotionally cool under adversity was not one of them.
“It’s no secret that I can snap on the radio,” Blaney said. “That’s been my whole life. That’s been my whole career. It’s just kind of something I do.”
This is where the team in Team Penske is such a vital role for Penske in having a strong support group in crew chief Jonathan Hassler, spotter Josh Williams and The Captain himself paid dividends in this championship race.
There were numerous occasions on Sunday where Blaney was running second and felt like he was being held-up by leader Ross Chastain.
“The fact that Ross said I raced him hard, the dude blocked three lanes in the corner of every lap,” Blaney said. “I don’t know how I’m racing him hard. When you look in the mirror going left, right, left, following wherever I go, I don’t understand how he thinks I’m racing him hard. He’s backing me up to (Kyle Larson.)
“I have to go. He’s backing me up to Larson to where I’m going to be in trouble.”
That’s about how he sounded on the radio too, but every time Blaney started to lose his cool, one of the three on the other side of the radio would talk him down … including the boss.
“He was running fine,” Penske said. “He was concerned that he was being backed up by (Chastain) obviously to (Larson), which he really wasn’t. Calming him down. He was doing a great job. The guys, Jonathan, the team, good pit stops, good strategy on getting their car right.
“It’s more to say, ‘Hey, you’re doing a good job.’ I told him before the race, Win, lose or draw, you’re a champion.”
Blaney didn’t need to win the race, obviously, and ultimately finished second to Chastain but there were a lot of reasons to want to get out front. For one, clean air is still hugely important towards making speed and getting away from the others.
If there was a caution, and there was, getting a car between Blaney and the other championship contenders before pit stops would have been a significant advantage. All told, Hassler didn’t mind the intensity but simply wanted to make sure it didn’t consume him.
“I think he came into this race with a lot of confidence, wanted to make a statement,” Hassler said. “I think he raced that way, as well.
“Racing with the 1 there at the end, I think it was 100 percent the right thing to do. I think the more cars that we can get between us and those other guys, in the event we have another pit stop later in the race, is going to be a huge help for us obviously with the 24 and the 5 having those really good pit stalls.”
The key was just making sure that he didn’t unsuccessfully race Chastain so hard that he burned up his tires and left himself susceptible to the other championship contenders.
Blaney at one point drove into the back of Chastain, gave him the middle finger, all things that really didn’t surprise the eventual winner of the race.
“He gets angry,” Chastain said. “It’s okay. I’ve known him for a decade. I could see him moving around in the car. The car’s going straight. I could see his colorful suit and gloves.
“I didn’t see apparently that he told me I was number one, but I don’t know. I could see, like, movement when I checked the camera. I was like, oh, he is angry.”
Blaney said of course he was angry.
“I mean, yeah, I hit him on purpose,” Blaney said. “He blocked me on purpose. 10 times. So, yeah, I hit him on purpose.
“What do you expect me to do? He’s backing me up to the other championship guy, and I’ve got to go. We were just racing hard. But do I think he was over excessive on the blocks? Yes, very much so. Did I hit him? Yes, I did. That’s just part of it.”
And that’s why the team in Team Penske needed to make sure Blaney didn’t completely lose focus.
The Captain felt just as turned upside down in his stomach but never showed it when interacting with his driver.
“I think the captain had to stay cool,” Penske said. “He was the coolest guy on the ship.”
He said it with a laugh.
“I would say I probably was cool, but inside I was turning over, counting the laps. Seven to go. Finally, our man said, Seven to go. He had a nice lead at that point.
“I was waiting for the yellow. How about you?”
It never came and Blaney didn’t have to deal with Chastain again on his way to the Bill France Cup.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.