With 15 NASCAR Cup Series wins and one championship to his name, Ryan Blaney‘s ‘nice guy’ approach to both racing and life besides doesn’t seem to have held him back through his 11 years in the top tier of stock car racing.
But despite Ryan’s undeniable prowess, some continue to suggest that his approach to racing could have held him back from time to time, with Kyle Petty recently claiming that “other drivers seem to take advantage of that niceness,” via NASCAR.
However, as far as the 31-year-old is concerned, winning in a “clean” manner makes for a much more impactful than racing dirty, as he explained on Monday ahead of the Playoff Round of 12 opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, Ryan’s interview also allowed him the opportunity to delve into exactly what happened when his 4-year-old nephew unexpectedly reached out to him mid-race in Bristol.
“My dad taught me at a young age, when I was getting going, that you give respect and you hope to get it back,” Ryan said. “I’ve tried to be really respectful, no matter what it is – when I was a rookie and as I’ve been in it for a while, I try to be respectful, and it’s just not in my nature to be the rough guy.
“That’s just not how I was raised. That’s not how my dad taught me to race. It’s not how the guys I grew up racing late models around raced. We all respected one another.”
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Ryan’s dad, Dave, raced in the Cup Series for 17 years, and according to Petty, their similar approach is clear to see. “When we look at the way they drive, when we look at the way they act out of the race car, they’re very docile. They’re never confrontational,” he said.
Petty also compared Ryan’s approach to that of Matt Kenseth, someone Ryan also brought up when speaking with reporters. “[Kenseth] was on Dale Jr.’s podcast a couple years ago, and he was like, ‘I don’t really like running into guys, but I really don’t like getting run into, so I would just hit you twice as hard, and that’s the end of it.’ I guess I’ve just always thought that way,” he explained.
“I talked to you Friday out at Bristol, and I think the best thing you can do is, ‘OK, this guy seems to need to rough me up to get by me or beat me.’ I think the biggest statement you can make is, ‘I’m just gonna beat you clean, and I’m never gonna tough you.’ That’s a bigger statement.
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“I don’t need to resort to that stuff to drive by you and beat you. That’s just my mindset and how I’ve always been, as far as behind the wheel and how I like to race people.”
That being said, Petty remains convinced that Blaney’s niceness could fade on a more consistent basis, now that he’s regularly pushing for wins. “Blaney has become a contender, week in and week out, and he’s not going to take it anymore,” Petty said. “You maybe could push him around before, but he’s not showing up to be pushed around anymore.”