{"id":526493,"date":"2026-03-10T09:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T09:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/526493\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T09:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T09:28:15","slug":"nascar-insider-makes-case-for-continued-evolution-of-ryan-blaney-after-phoenix-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/526493\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR insider makes case for ‘continued evolution’ of Ryan Blaney after Phoenix win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Blaney\u2019s<\/a> victory at Phoenix Raceway didn\u2019t just add another trophy to his r\u00e9sum\u00e9. According to one NASCAR<\/a> insider, it also served as the latest example of how far the Team Penske driver has come over the course of his career.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the latest episode of The Teardown<\/a>, Jeff Gluck pointed<\/a> to Blaney\u2019s performance and his demeanor during the race as evidence that the former Cup Series champion continues to evolve into one of the sport\u2019s most complete drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cRyan Blaney really wanted to deliver that. Not a surprise that he did, of course, given his Phoenix dominance,\u201d Gluck stated<\/a>. \u201cI think you\u2019re seeing a continued evolution of Ryan Blaney. You know, you look at the way that we look at the analytics, He\u2019s, if not the best passer in the series, one of the best passers in the series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phoenix has long rewarded drivers who can find creative ways to move through the field, and Blaney showcased that ability once again. The oval often requires drivers to search for different lanes and grooves to generate passing opportunities. That\u2019s something Gluck believes Blaney excels at.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, this is a place where you need to find those lanes and those grooves and try to figure out how to make your car work to do that,\u201d Gluck explained.<\/p>\n

But the race also highlighted another area where Blaney appears to have grown, as he kept his composure. Earlier in his career, the No. 12 driver was known for his emotional radio chatter during tense moments in races. That wasn\u2019t the case on Sunday, even when adversity struck.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also saw evolution in that, like, \u2018Hey, this is a guy who we know gets frustrated inside the car,\u2019 right?\u201d Gluck added. \u201cWe all hear it. He doesn\u2019t think that he is more vocal on the radio than other drivers. He says they all do it. But, you know, if you listen to Ryan Blaney, he is probably the most vocal one. Sorry, Ryan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of letting frustration take over, Blaney remained calm after dealing with issues during the race, including a loose wheel: \u201cToday, so he gets that loose wheel, right? What\u2019s he saying? He\u2019s saying, \u2018You know what, guys, don\u2019t worry about it. Long race, we\u2019ve got this.\u2019 No problem, right?\u201d Gluck explained.<\/p>\n

Even when problems persisted, Blaney maintained his composure and focused on executing the rest of the race: \u201cHe had the presence to say, \u2018Long way to go. I\u2019ve got a fast car. I\u2019m going to do this. I know how to do this,\u2019\u201d Gluck added.<\/p>\n

That confidence and patience mark a stark contrast from the early years of Blaney\u2019s Cup career, when he was often labeled as a talented driver who struggled to close out races: \u201cRemember, this is a guy in his first few years, where he was winning like one race a year, \u2018This guy just can\u2019t close it out,\u2019\u201d Gluck said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I think he\u2019s just such a more well-rounded, mature driver. You really see why he\u2019s one of the best in the series.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Blaney\u2019s victory at Phoenix Raceway didn\u2019t just add another trophy to his r\u00e9sum\u00e9. According to one NASCAR…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-526493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}