Ryan Blaney leans on the words of “Macho Man” Randy Savage when assessing his playoff position entering Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.
“Unjustifiably in a position I’d rather not be in, but the cream will rise to the top,” Blaney said, quoting a line from the wresting Hall of Famer.
Savage, who passed away in 2011, was a former champion who also was known for his vibrant outfits and memorable interviews.
It is from one of those sessions that Blaney — last among the playoff drivers at 31 points below the cutline with two races left in the Round of 8 — borrows a line to describe his plight after a last-place finish this past weekend at Las Vegas.
“I don’t think there is a person before or after him that could cut promos quite like that guy,” Blaney said of Savage. “If I’m sitting at home and I’m bored — and maybe I’ve had a couple of drinks — I will go watch Randy Savage interviews just because I think it was amazing what was going through that man’s head.”
One never knows what surprise Talladega Superspeedway will unleash next.
Blaney, the 2023 Cup champion, said the line he quoted from Savage about cream rising to the top is his favorite from the wrestler.
“That is what we can use for this weekend,” said Blaney, who seeks to reach the championship race for a third consecutive season. “I thought that was a perfect comparison to my situation. Thank you Mr. Savage.”
Blaney’s quest to overcome the Las Vegas crash and return to the title race won’t be easy.
Chase Elliott enters Sunday’s Cup race below the cutline, but he is one of two current playoff drivers who has won in the last nine races at Talladega.
He has failed to finish the last two races at Talladega. Blaney placed 37th in the spring when he was collected in a crash as cars attempted to pit under green. He finished 39th in last year’s playoff race when he was hit from behind and crashed coming to the end of the second stage.
While Blaney has three wins and six top-five finishes at Talladega, he also has failed to finish six of the 22 races he’s run there.
Last weekend’s race at Las Vegas continued a theme for Blaney, who has been fast but also had his share of issues this year. He crashed after a left front tire lost air pressure. It marked the eighth time in 33 races this year that Blaney has failed to finish.
Blaney done for the day after blown tire at Vegas
Disaster strikes in the opening race of the Round of 8 as Ryan Blaney blows a tire in Stage 1 and is forced behind the wall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Should he go on to win the Cup title, he would have the most DNFs in a season for a Cup champion since the Chase/playoff format was created in 2004.
Blaney admits that the ups and downs — three wins and 13 top-five finishes to go against six DNFs for accidents and two for engine issues — have made this a challenging season.
“I look at our team on the 12 car and I’ve been really, really happy with how we’ve been going about things, how we’ve been able to bounce back from bad weeks and just go do our job the next weekend and not really let it change our outlook on things and go to the racetrack confident every single week,” Blaney said in response to a question from NBC Sports on Wednesday.
“… I told myself like, ‘Hey, you can be upset with the Vegas deal Sunday, but when you wake up Monday, we’re gonna be full-on looking forward and heads-up looking forward to Talladega and then what challenges come at Martinsville.’
“So, I think it gets easier as you get older and your outlook on things change and you’re just trying to look ahead a little bit more. I think some of it come naturally and just natural growth, but other is just having these conversations with myself years ago of, ‘Hey, I want to kind of change this up about me,’ because early in my career I would stew on things a little bit longer. Now I try to just drop things and move on from them, so it’s a little bit of both, but I think that’s the healthiest way I’ve been able to deal with it.”
The longest track on the schedule will play host to a tripleheader weekend.
This year also has seen Blaney and wife Gianna prepare for parenthood. Gianna is due to deliver the couple’s first son in the offseason.
Going through that experience has changed how Blaney views challenges at the track.
“If I have a bad day in my job, that’s one thing, but it has put it into perspective for me watching my wife go through having a child grow inside of her – of things that she has to deal with, too, from that level,” Blaney said. “The way that she’s been able to overcome things that her body is changing and things that maybe aren’t ideal that come up through her pregnancy that she has to deal with and just how do we move forward together.
“I think you just realize that there are bigger things out there. Your job is obviously important, but other things are just as important if not more, so Gianna has honestly been amazing.
“It puts it into perspective for me like, ‘Hey, if I have a tough day, it’s nothing compared to if she has a tough day’ because she is having to deal with this and making sure that our child is all good and that she is being healthy.’ It definitely changes your outlook and then when he arrives it’s gonna change your outlook even more.”