2023 has been bittersweet for Ryan Blaney. His first victory of the season came at the Charlotte Motor Speedway back in May, when he ended his 59-race-winless streak. However, the next 16 races did not witness a single top-10 performance from him. Owing to his ROVAL victory, he entered 12th in the playoffs. Back then, little did anyone predict that he would win two playoff races and corkscrew his spot in the Championship 4.

Now, he has a win at the longest NASCAR track and one at the shortest, both in the same season. Hence, it is not unnatural for the Team Penske icon to be confident about his final and most important race of the season.

Ryan Blaney’s subtle warning to his opponents

Keeping in view the uncertainty of the sport, Ryan Blaney has the toughest battle to win. Take Blaney’s teammate, Joey Logano, for example, who got ousted from contention right in the round of 16 when he crashed into Corey LaJoie with no apparent fault of his own. Coming this far and not winning would be disheartening for any driver.

Despite the odds, Ryan Blaney does not look discouraged at all. It looks like he is all set to defend his teammate’s title from last year and bag his first and his team’s 4th Cup Series championship. But in stock car racing, confidence doesn’t just come out of thin air; it is always backed by relevant facts and numbers. Needless to say, Blaney did that as well.

In a recent interview, Blaney explained that everything the number 12 Ford team does behind the garage is essentially what a driver needs to make speed at Phoenix Raceway. “This track kind of just fits what we do in this car,” said Blaney. “In the past, we’ve been strong here in the older generation car, and especially in the next-gen car we’ve been really strong had a great shot to win this thing in the fall last year, had a great shot to win in the spring this year, hopefully, we can bring the same speed and build on what you learn.”

Reflecting on the quirky dog-leg-shaped 1-mile track, Blaney admitted, “Two different ends of the speedway are very different, we do a good job of making both ends pretty good. I look into Texas, I look at Gateway; here’s similar to that. Just fits our thought process.”

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But that’s probably not even the biggest reason why he trusts his driving prowess days before going into Phoenix Raceway. The main source of his strength lies in a 6-letter word, a word we all relate to.

Moments after winning the Xfinity 500, Ryan Blaney got flowers from his biggest supporters

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‘Family’, the 6-lettered word, consists of people who never leave a man, even when he is at his worst. Ryan Blaney is fortunate to have a beautiful family standing by his side through thick and thin. And that was evident when his girlfriend Gianna Tulio shared a romantic video on her Instagram, captioned, “Gosh I’m so proud of you and will forever relive this moment. Let’s get it in Phoenix baby!!!! #final4 ❤️🏁”

But Blaney’s girlfriend is not the only one who supports him from the grandstands. His father and former professional driver tweeted similar sentiments when he tweeted a picture with Ryan Blaney and the grandfather clock and said, “Yesterday was one of the coolest days I’ve ever had at a race track.”

In his last 6 starts at Phoenix for Team Penske, the 29-year-old speedster has two top-10 finishes, two top-5s, and a pair of runner-up positions. And in those 6 starts, Ryan Blaney has led a combined 321 laps. Now, let’s see if he continues to lead the laps on November 5 as well and buckles himself up to his Ford Mustang for the last time this season.

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