Roger Penske’s NASCAR Cup Series team is on fire once again. Ryan Blaney booked his Round of 8 playoff berth after winning in New Hampshire. Joey Logano also did the same after ousting Ross Chastain at the Roval. Now, Blaney and Logano are aiming for Phoenix Raceway as their ultimate goal. Meanwhile, Blaney’s focus is on another racetrack as well – Sharon Speedway.

Ryan Blaney might have finished as the runner-up in the 2024 season, but his racing legacy goes back long before his own career, as his family has been legendary in the dirt racing world. The Blaneys have flourished at Sharon Speedway, and Ryan credits his team owner for his involvement in it.

Ryan Blaney’s people skills come from a legend

In the early 1960s, there was a phenomenal sports car racer rapidly gaining fame with multiple trophies. That was none other than Roger Penske. But in 1965, he stopped racing and entered the business world through a Chevrolet dealership. What resulted was the hugely successful Team Penske racing operation and the Penske Group, a vast global business operation that employs more than 56,000 people worldwide. And that is the source of inspiration for Ryan Blaney’s budding ownership instincts.

In early May, Ryan Blaney joined the ownership group of Sharon Speedway, a 3/8ths mile clay oval in bucolic Hartford, Ohio. His father, Dave, had already been a partner of the track since 2002. Yet Blaney confessed that his team owner supplied most of the inspiration, like he does in Blaney’s NASCAR ambitions. Blaney recently said, “When you own something like that and it’s a racetrack, the people you have working there day to day, you have to find folks who are really committed, who love what they do, who are good at their job.” He added, “Just managing those folks is definitely tough. But I have been lucky to be around somebody like Roger [Penske], who is the best person at that ever, and I’ve been trying to bring that mindset to it.”

Ryan Blaney‘s grandfather, father, and uncle (Lou, Dave, and Dale) have all been stalwarts in the dirt racing world. Despite his own detachment from this discipline, Blaney is focused on turning his newly acquired dirt track into a phenomenon. He is especially committed to entertaining the fans. The 2023 Cup Series champion said: “The fan experience is something that I really pay attention to now that I own the racetrack — what are the fans saying, where can we improve the fan experience? Whereas before, when you don’t own a racetrack or a thing like that, you don’t really think about that. But now that you do, you want to make it the best time possible for everybody.”

Ryan Blaney is taking baby steps into the ownership world, and Roger Penske is aiding him. Meanwhile, Blaney looks forward to a fresh start in NASCAR as well.

Rooting for a format tweak

Ryan Blaney looks fantastic heading into the second half of the playoffs. He has an advantage in all three races of the Round of 8. In 18 Las Vegas starts, Blaney has 10 top-10 finishes. But the real magic is expected in Martinsville and Talladega. He is a three-time Talladega winner, including a clutch playoff win at the track in 2023, and Blaney also won the latest superspeedway race in Daytona. In both 2023 and 2024, he put together two of the most clutch performances that Martinsville’s Paperclip track has ever seen.

However, Ryan Blaney hopes that this format of the playoffs soon comes to an end.

With NASCAR issuing hints of a tweaked championship format, the Team Penske driver slipped out his hopes. Ryan Blaney confessed, “I don’t personally like the win and you’re in type thing. I think you got to be top X in points, no matter what guys they take, whether it’s 12, 16, whatever, I think it’s just those guys in points. Think you can put a bunch of more emphasis on winning, as far as a ton more bonus points for winning.” He added, “I’m all for whatever. But I guess those would be my couple things that I would like to see changed if they do switch around a little bit.”

Clearly, Ryan Blaney is hoping for revamped approaches both at the racetrack he owns and in the sport he races. Let’s see what the future holds for Roger Penske’s bright driver.