Ryan Blaney‘s boss, Roger Penske, is more than just a team owner. He is a motorsports business tycoon. However, his latest collaboration with NASCAR was not welcomed by many fans and his own series’ drivers. But now that NASCAR and IndyCar are at Phoenix, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney has made an important statement, urging him to go all in with more crossover events like these.

Ryan Blaney calls out fans’ hypocrisy against NASCAR

In his latest interview, Blaney’s message to the community was loud and clear. “Personally, yeah, I would love it. I think it’s great for racing fans. I have never really understood people like, ‘I only watch NASCAR, not IndyCar,’ and vice versa.”

For drivers like Ryan Blaney, motorsports is their job, and they love doing that. They do not care about the superiority of the sport they are racing in or against. It’s all or nothing for them when they get behind the wheel of a racecar.

So he understands the importance of the sport and the effect it has on fans. A few days ago, Pato O’Ward earned himself a good booking from Kevin Harvick for trying to go against fans with his statements.

O’Ward was against a NASCAR and IndyCar doubleheader weekend. Kevin Harvick reminded him that motorsport fans enjoy multiple disciplines, saying, “We have… the most educated race fans in our country… they love sprint car racing, they love midgets, they love NASCAR, and they love IndyCar.”

Just like Harvick, Blaney also emphasizes the fan’s perspective in his message.

“Racing is racing, and it just brings everybody together, and I think the crowd for a few days is just going to be fantastic because we are having a double-header weekend.

“So yeah, I would love to see more double-header weekends just because I like hanging with these guys and watching them. It’s easy for you to watch them on TV if you are free.”

Blaney does a great job at spreading awareness among the audience. He is among the few people who consider motorsports something that unifies every discipline instead of pitting them against each other.

Not only that, the frequent doubleheaders are a great operation financially. They make the organizational costs go down for both sports, and fans get to watch more racing and more action for more or less the same admission costs.

Also, the tracks get to sell more merchandise and provide concessions owing to fame and the abundance of fans on the track. All of these reasons are why betting on them could be a great multi-million dollar deal, which is what Blaney’s words hint at.

With more NASCAR drivers talking about IndyCar and praising its racing, it is bound to make fans move to the sport and enjoy it, too. There are a number of drivers who want to take part in the Indy 500 race.

With support from famous NASCAR figures like Blaney, the sport of IndyCar is bound to return to glory. As Blaney says, it is about promoting racing to the fans instead of the sport.

The community should be coming together on weekends to appreciate the drivers who risk their lives at high speeds to provide them with a high-octane spectacle, rather than fighting amongst themselves about the superiority of one sport.

While Blaney supports Kevin Harvick’s opinions, he has earned the former’s approval for being one of the favorites at Phoenix.

Ryan Blaney one of the top contenders at Phoenix

At COTA, Blaney was furiously racing Tyler Reddick in the first two stages. His Ford had a lot of speed, but he couldn’t get past the No. 45 car.

Even though Blaney’s season has been lackluster from the first three races, COTA was a great example of what he can do with the right setup.

Quoting his performance from COTA, Kevin Harvick says, “I think Ryan Blaney is gonna be tough to beat. He had a ton of speed this weekend. He’s been good at every race. Penske cars have typically been pretty good there from the 12 standpoint.

“The 22’s been hit or miss, [and] the 2 [Austin Cindric], I can’t ever tell where they are as far as what they have going on.”

Blaney’s 20 appearances at Phoenix have landed him with one win and 13 top-10 finishes. In fact, he has shown amazing consistency on the track. In his past 10 appearances, he lost out on a top-10 finish only once.

As the defending winner at the track from last season’s championship race, Blaney has the momentum in his favor. Will he be able to convert that into his first victory of the 2026 season?