Ryan Blaney remembers the first time he met with Roger Penske to discuss joining his NASCAR team. Fourteen years ago, the then-18-year-old was understandably nervous to sit down face-to-face with one of the most well-known team owners in motorsports.
In that meeting, Penske offered Blaney no assurances, just a part-time contract that allowed Blaney to prove he deserved to drive for Team Penske on a full-time basis. Even all these years later, it’s a meeting Blaney remembers in great detail.
“I will never forget sitting down in the bus with Roger for the first time,” Blaney, now 32, said this week. “I’ll never forget them sneaking me in the Penske race shop after hours to where no one, no employees, saw me before we signed the deal. So just getting to tour that facility, it was just a huge place. (I) was incredibly nervous, for sure.”
No longer does Blaney have to sneak around the team’s headquarters. That initial meeting forged a bond between Blaney and Penske that remains strong to this day, with Blaney now firmly cemented as one of Team Penske’s franchise drivers. The latest evidence: Blaney and Team Penske have agreed to a multi-year contract extension, Blaney and the team confirmed. Team Penske will announce the deal Wednesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it will keep Blaney with the organization for the foreseeable future. Team Penske also renewed its deal with Menards, Blaney’s anchor sponsor since 2018.
Since advancing to NASCAR’s premier Cup Series full-time in 2016, Blaney has won a championship (in 2023) and 18 races, establishing himself as one of NASCAR’s elite talents. It’s no surprise Penske has prioritized keeping Blaney with the organization, and the team made it clear they wanted to extend the deal even though Blaney still had term left on his existing contract.
“This is a place where I just love being,” Blaney said. “Roger has done a lot for my career, and to have the success that we’ve had, I’m over the moon that they have wanted to keep me around because I’ve wanted to stay there. I just want to be successful for Roger and the person who gave me these big opportunities. I’m lucky that he’s allowed me to continue to do that.”
Ryan Blaney was the 2023 Cup Series champion and has won 18 Cup races since 2017. (Matt Kelley / Getty Images)
Blaney chose to re-sign instead of exploring a marketplace where he surely would’ve been in high demand, citing his loyalty to Team Penske. He always wanted to remain there, and when he sensed the team felt the same, he never explored any other alternatives.
As Blaney sees it, Team Penske didn’t have to come to him early about a new contract. Penske, though, never left him wondering if a deal would materialize.
“Being loyal to the people who’ve given you opportunities in your life and your career is super important to me, and Roger is that guy, so I really couldn’t see myself anywhere else,” Blaney said. “I love the people that I get to work with every single day, and working for Roger is just an absolute dream.”
The extension comes 12 years to the week since Blaney made his Cup debut, at Kansas Speedway. Thinking back to that day, Blaney chuckled while reflecting on all that’s changed.
At the time, Team Penske was a two-car team, with Blaney driving a one-off third entry. Penske has since expanded to a third full-time car, and the structure within the organization has evolved. The changes have required the soft-spoken Blaney to shift into a more vocal leader.
“When I speak on certain things, I try to be thoughtful of how I go about them in the way of leadership,” Blaney said. “I want to teach the younger guys in the group what I learned and what I was given.”
With several years remaining in his prime, this likely won’t be Blaney’s final contract with Team Penske. But he is clear he has no intention of leaving. His goal is to be synonymous with the organization, similar to former NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears or even current teammate Joey Logano, a three-time Cup Series champion.
“The culture around there is something I just really love,” Blaney said. “I was pretty much a kid when I walked in the doors there, and Roger kind of raised me, and that group raised me. And being a dad now, like, that’s what I wanted my kid to grow up like.”