Riding in a Thunderbirds fighter jet isn’t the same as driving a NASCAR car. Ryan Blaney found himself in that precarious situation 10 years ago. Blaney, who is no stranger to high speeds and dangerous maneuvers, thought that he could easily handle the experience. But the Team Penske driver could not stop himself from throwing up at 30,000 feet in a completely unexpected fashion.

When Ryan Blaney underestimated the Thunderbirds

The United States Air Force Thunderbirds experience program allows participants to feel the exhilarating experience of a fighter jet. Considering his experience with high speeds and g-forces around the NASCAR ovals, Ryan Blaney thought that he would be able to take on whatever came his way in the experience. But in a recent interview with SiriusXM Radio, Blaney revealed everything that went wrong for him that day.

When his pilot asked him about his comfort level, Blaney gave him the green signal to perform any moves that he wanted. At first, it went well until a last-minute maneuver completely shocked Ryan Blaney.

“The pilot asked me before, ‘Hey, what do you want to do? What is your comfort level?’ and I was like, ‘Hey, do whatever you want. I am in it with you. Whatever you do, I am cool with it.’ I was great the whole time, and then he did something unexpected that I wasn’t really ready for, and I got hot, I got queasy, and I threw up.”

Even Blaney was unable to handle the sudden G-forces at an altitude of 30,000 feet. Fortunately for him, he was able to reach the bag in time. Even though Ryan Blaney is among the multitude of people who have thrown up during their experience, he doesn’t feel ashamed of it.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

“It was like a proud vomit. It was not like other moments where you are not proud, like you overindulge in something, and then you are sick. This one was like, I got to vomit at 30000 feet in a Thunderbird. That was like, I wish I had a better meal that morning. It was an unbelievable experience. I hope to get to do it again one day.”

As he shares his experience, Ryan Blaney also explained the extremity of his experience with the AF Thunderbirds. According to him, he was unable to keep track of their speed as their jet gained altitude rapidly.

“That was the coolest experience I have ever been a part of. They were so amazing; everybody was a part of the Thunderbirds—not only the pilots, but also the mechanics and the ones coordinating traffic. Those folks are no joke. I wish I could do it again. I want to do it again now that I am older, because I feel like I’d have more of an appreciation for it.

“So the coolest part of what they do is—it’s like they go straight to 10,000, so they pop off the runway, and they go straight 90-10000 feet. And you are at 10,000 feet before you know it. And you are seeing everything get very small in a very short amount of time; it’s just unbelievable.”

Even Connor Zilisch, who recently sat in one, subtly referred to Blaney’s “throw-up” warning but admitted to the fun experience.

“I think I was nervous of the fact that whether or not I was going to get sick. Cause I listened to enough drivers tell me how they threw up. But even the ones who threw up still said it was one of the most coolest experiences of their life,” said Zilisch.

While Blaney’s experience with the US Thunderbirds was more than exciting, the same can’t be said about his Daytona 500 weekend last Sunday.

Ryan Blaney voices clear demands to fix racing

Ryan Blaney was only able to bring in a mere P7 finish during the race. He ended up getting stuck behind the Toyotas, which were deliberately slowing down the field owing to their fuel-saving tactics. Their strategy would cost Blaney a top-5 spot as he could not make any moves. Blaney was completely boxed in.

While talking about his race, Blaney did not hold back from blaming the Toyotas and asking NASCAR to fix these mistakes.

“[Toyota] gets three cars and just blocks the whole field. It’s unfortunate. We have to fix that. It’s pretty bad.”

“I know we’re working on that. We’re trying to figure out ways to fix it, and there’s been a lot of discussion with the teams and drivers and NASCAR about how do we go about this and how do we fix it?”

Blaney acknowledges that the issue is something that plagues almost every team. When the teams start implementing a fuel-saving strategy, they usually go three-wide covering the lanes and leave no space for the drivers behind them. As such, the entire grid is stuck driving in a line, and teams try to wait it all out until the pit cycles change the racing order.

“It takes away from the racing aspect of it. At that point, we’re not really racing. It feels like riding in a line and waiting for the green-flag stop…It sucks in my position because I was in the back, and when I got to the roadblock three-wide, you really can’t go anywhere,” he recently added.

Blaney is among the many drivers who have been vocal about this strategy. But is there any concrete strategy that can prevent the teams from driving at 50 percent power midway through the race? What do you think?