A crew chief is the person in charge of the race car team during a race. They decide when to change tires, refuel, and make other important choices to help the driver win.
In NASCAR, drivers earn points depending on how well they finish in each race. These points add up to decide who wins the championship, so doing well often and winning races is important.
The NASCAR Chase is like a playoff at the end of the season where the best drivers race to see who wins the whole championship. Drivers have to do well during the season to get into this special group.
Team Penske is a famous racing team that races cars in big competitions like NASCAR and IndyCar. They have won many races and championships and are very well known.
IndyCar racing is a type of car racing with very fast, open cars that race on different types of tracks. One of the most famous races in IndyCar is the Indianapolis 500.
An Indy car race is a fast car race where special cars race on big tracks, including famous ones like the Indy 500. These cars are built just for racing and look very different from regular cars.
Pole position means starting the race at the very front because you were the fastest in the qualifying round. It helps you get ahead of other racers right from the start.
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When you have days like that, you have a couple of knockdowns to the day and to fight back and find yourself in Victory Lane.
Those definitely are very gratifying.
Consistency matters more.
The first 26 races are incredibly important and you're seeding for the chase.
Welcome into the Victory Lap.
I'm Caitlin Vinci here with Kevin Harvick's happy hour and so good to have Ryan Blaney,
the big Phoenix winner joining us on the program.
Ryan, with everything that you and your team faced in that race,
would you feel like this is maybe one of the more hard fought wins in your career?
Yeah, it's simply up there.
That's for sure.
We did a great job of overcoming some of our mistakes and issues,
so I'm really proud of that and we just persevered through the whole day.
And if we did have a problem, we focused on what's the next task that we have to accomplish,
so I was really proud of everybody for having that mindset and that's a great mindset that we have with this 12 team.
Everyone's going to make mistakes, but it's how do you learn from them and how do you move on.
We had a fast enough car to make up a lot of it and find ourselves in position and in the game
towards the end of the race to take two tires and that was a great call by Jonathan and that
allowed us to get the lead here on the restart like you're seeing and then hold off the 20 car
who was really coming on four tires there at the end of the race.
But yeah, definitely a day when you have days like that that you have a couple knockdowns
through the day and to fight back and find yourself in victory lane.
Those definitely are very gratifying, I feel like, for your whole group.
I was going to say, how does that speak to the strength of the team and just
the depth of the team that you have when you can overcome those types of things?
Yeah, I'm very lucky to be with such a great group of people,
and that's what this whole sport is, is the people and I've been really fortunate to have
been surrounded by really hard workers, people who share the same mindsets across the board.
And we've built that community with everybody.
Jonathan's done an amazing job of putting this amazing group of folks together that
want to work hard and get through the hard times together and enjoy the good times as well.
So it's a fun community that we've built over here, not only our 12th group,
but all of Team Penske and it's fun to go to battle with those guys every week.
You mentioned Jonathan, your crew chief several times, obviously had the correct strategy call
in the end. What kind of an asset do you feel like he has been to your career in the program?
I've had an absolute blast working with Jonathan since 2022, and it's hard to believe it's been
22, 23, 24, 25, we're in our fifth year together. It's hard to believe that.
It's just because it feels like just yesterday, we started working together and
we've been able to do some really great things together. He's such a hard worker,
incredibly smart human being. He already is, but I feel like every single day,
he becomes more and more of an amazing leader as well. So I've been, like I said before,
I mean, I'm really lucky to be surrounded by great people and Jonathan's at the pinnacle of it.
So yeah, it's been a lot of fun with him and I couldn't ask for anybody else.
He's such a good, not only good crew chief, but such a great human being as well.
And that's, that's pretty fun when you have those similarities.
Yes, you seem like a great pairing together. So this race in terms of what we saw with the
tires strategy at the end, was it about what you anticipated it was going to be?
Honestly, yeah, I thought it was a great race, like the increased horsepower. I'm going to say
this was our first like oval with increased horsepower. I'm not going to count bone and
gray just because it's, you barely get wide open there, but I thought it was awesome. Like
you could really make your rear tires angry if you weren't conscious of how you were kind of
running them early on. And I think that's good. That's when you see big comers and
goers and stuff like that. And so yeah, I thought it was a great race. The track
getting really hot and slick yesterday. I thought it really opened up a ton of lanes.
That's the highest we've run in three and four and a handful of years. So I thought it just
opened up the track a little bit. And that's always, that's always good when the track gets
pretty wide and everyone's slipping around. That's always makes for a good race.
Well, you certainly were able to capitalize on your post race interview. You mentioned
winning feels different as a dad. You have since returned home to Charlotte and senior family.
What was that moment like?
Yeah, it was a, they were all sleeping when I got home. But yeah, it's just, it definitely hits
different. You know, I mean, yeah, like I said yesterday, I mean, winning is great, you know,
and that's what we're doing this for is the win and all those emotions that go through. But,
you know, and then, and then coming home to your family, like, that's, that's even better,
you know, and it's, it's, it's something I've been lucky enough to experience.
You know, and first time win as a dad is always pretty cool, even though Charlie has no idea
what's going on. You know, I remember I'll show him when he's older, like, Hey bud,
this is the first one that your dad won, you know, when ever since I had you. So yeah,
it's just fun, fun memories, fun moments. It was, it was awesome to, you know, see them
this morning when everybody woke up. And, and yeah, that's, that's great. So I hope,
you know, we're able to win with, you know, Gianna and Charlie at the racetrack and that's
going to be a fun family picture in victory lane. Charlie's got a cool dad. That's for sure. So big
picture this season, you've led laps in every race. Where do you feel like your team is at?
Just kind of as a whole, I know it's still early, but where do you feel you guys are at?
Yeah, I feel like we're in a great spot. You know, I, you know, going into the year,
you know, the first three races are all kind of, you never know what can happen, right? You have
two super speedways with Daytona and Atlanta and then a road course at Cota, which I mean,
we're familiar with all those tracks, but I guess we could, you know, it's a little funky,
just never know where you're going to, you know, pan out the end of them. And I think one of our
biggest things that Jonathan and I talked about before the year was just not putting ourselves
in a hole, you know, the first three weeks of the year. And, and, you know, we didn't finish
Daytona, but then I thought we put together really good weekends and finishes at Atlanta
and Cota and then obviously this weekend. So I think we're firing on all cylinders. I love where
our, you know, our speed this weekend was, was really good. And I look forward to seeing where
we're at at Vegas this upcoming weekend, kind of our first, you know, intermediate mile and a half
track. And then we'll get a really good idea. So proud of the effort so far. Just got to keep going,
though, can never get stagnant. You know, you're always trying to learn every single weekend,
no matter how it's going. You mentioned the mile and a half first one we're going to in just a
few days at Las Vegas. But what is challenging about it? I mean, mile and a half's all have
their unique elements to them. What is tough about Vegas? Yeah, I think the, the few things we look
at going there is obviously like the tunnel bump and one and two is pretty large. And that's how
do you, how do you make it over that? The high temperatures there, it's going to be really hot
in Vegas this weekend. So tracks going to get slick. And then like the wind, the wind is always a
pretty big factor there. Which is not much you can do about that, but you just always have to
prepare for it. But yeah, I think that the tunnel bump is something that's always on people's minds.
You know, how, hey, how can we get over this bump? And efficiently enough, but then how do we also
get through turns three and four, which is pretty smooth. Like, so there's always that kind of that
little bit of a cat and mouse game with your setup of, you know, do you kind of completely just
look at one and two and try to get over the bump good and just live over three and four? Or is it
going to be vice versa? So those are always the challenges when we get out there. So you're in
a good position in terms of the points, but ever since NASCAR announced, we were going back to
the old type of format, how does the mentality change as a driver to this more orthodox way of
going after a championship? Yeah, I mean, I, the goal every week is to win races and finish as
good as you can. Like, so I don't, like that mindset doesn't change, but I feel like
there is more thoughts in the back of your mind of, you know, not wanting to throw away a bunch
of points, right? Whether that's, and I said this earlier, like before the season started, like bad
days are going to hurt even worse in this points format, because now you have to make up, you know,
that much more, you know, no more win in your end type thing. You can't lay back on that. Like
winning is a lot of points, but like there's, you're not guaranteed a spot in the
chase if you want to race. So I think it's just consistency matters more, which I think is good.
I think that's the way it should be. So yeah, I find myself looking at the points more often
than what I did in prior years, just because, you know, you're always curious of where you're at,
because that's your, the first 26 races are incredibly important and you're seating for the
chase. So I like to say it doesn't really change our minds that much, but there's always that little
little inkling in the back of your mind that like, man, just don't want to have a bad day
here. And I think, I think everyone's mindset is that way. Right. Yeah. Well, you're certainly in
a good position to start the year. So the final question I have for you is just a banner weekend
for team Penske overall, what that was like being a part of the double out there in Phoenix.
And what this organization means to you and what it's like to be a part of those huge moments for
that company. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we couldn't have drawn up a better weekend at Phoenix. You know,
it was really great having the Indy cars there. I'm a big fan of Indy car racing, you know,
obviously with the team that we have here, you know, I cheer on Scotty and Joseph and David,
you know, I pull for those guys. I want those guys to do well and it goes both ways. Right.
I had a blast. I just walked around the grid on Saturday before the race and
talked to those three guys talk to their teams and, you know, got to be a huge race fan with the
team that I am like really pulling for. So that was a lot of fun and getting to watch the Indy
car race with with Roger up in the suite. You know, there wasn't a lot of banner going on. He's on
the radio like he's listening to everything that's going on and stuff like that. So it's just it's
just neat to see his involvement in it firsthand. And then for all those guys to stick around for
Sunday and cheer us on was great. I think it just speaks on the team that we have here. You
know, no matter what series you're in, you're always pulling for each other and supporting
each other. And we are one big team, Penske. So awesome weekend. Sweep both poles, got both wins.
Joseph definitely put the pressure on us. Went on Saturday. That's for sure. But luckily we were
able to do it and to have Roger there just makes it even more special. Yeah, great weekend overall
for team Penske. Ryan, always nice to hear from you. Congratulations on the Phoenix win
and best of luck to you in Las Vegas. Thank you. Awesome. Thanks, Cable.
About this episode
Ryan Blaney reflects on his hard-fought Phoenix win, highlighting the resilience and teamwork that helped overcome race-day challenges. He praises crew chief Jonathan Hassler's leadership and strategic calls, especially the late-race tire decision. Blaney discusses the impact of increased horsepower on racing dynamics and shares personal moments winning as a dad. Looking ahead, he previews the challenges of the Las Vegas mile-and-a-half track and the importance of consistency in NASCAR's points format. The episode also celebrates Team Penske's strong weekend, emphasizing the unity across their racing programs.
Ryan Blaney’s dramatic NASCAR Cup Series win at Phoenix Raceway featured pit road setbacks, late-race strategy, and a comeback drive that saw the Team Penske driver pass 49 cars on his way to victory. In this week’s Victory Lap interview, Kaitlyn Vincie is joined by Ryan Blaney to break down how the race unfolded, the key strategy call that helped him secure the win, what he has been most impressed with from his team early in the NASCAR season, and how he is approaching the upcoming race weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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