“I love when people doubt us, don’t think we can do it,” Chase Briscoe declared with fiery confidence after clinching his playoff spot last weekend. His words resonate far beyond his personal victory, perfectly encapsulating Ford’s rollercoaster journey in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. For months, it seemed like Chevrolet and Toyota were stealing the show, stacking up victories while Ford’s trophy case collected dust. But, in true underdog fashion, Ford roared back.

All it took was one breakthrough, and the wins started pouring in. Leading the charge was reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney, who snagged two crucial victories—the most among Ford’s drivers. As the regular season wound down, Ford slammed the door on any doubters with two back-to-back victories, earning the title of highest-winning OEM of the season.

For Blaney, this resurgence was anything but surprising. Ford’s slow start had critics writing them off, but their relentless drive proved otherwise. Now, with momentum firmly in their corner, Ford is charging into the playoffs with something to prove, and the rest of the field better be ready.

Ryan Blaney is proud of his OEM

At the cusp of 2024, Ford trumpeted its new race car body, the Dark Horse Mustang. But after the season kicked off, it was clear that teams were still wrapping their head around it. Yet all it took was a little time. After Brad Keselowski snapped his 103-race winless streak and also Ford’s bleak stretch, he changed things. He thanked Ford for the new upgrades that helped his team attain the victory. That lit up the path for the rest of the bandwagon to follow down a glorious path.

So in a pre-race presser for Atlanta, Ryan Blaney emphasized that patience was a virtue. The new car threw challenges at the drivers, but they overcame them. “I think it just took time, you know? I mean, we had a new car and tested it maybe twice in the off-season. You just don’t really know what you have until you get there and get competing with all the other cars. It just took everybody a little bit to find their way, and that was kind of expected. I feel like we were patient with it.” 

Ryan Blaney also tipped his hat to the Ford bandwagon for not bending under pressure. A lot of hype was created about Ford’s panic button, but the OEM stuck together. “The first couple of months we weren’t like, oh our speed’s not where it needs to be. It’s like well, just keep working on it. Try to find things that are going to improve us and make us a little bit better each week. Then finally I think we’ve hit on it pretty well. So I’ve been proud of the work that everyone’s done at our race shop and Ford…Even when things aren’t right…we can get them as close as we can.” 

The Team Penske driver’s milestones have also been huge. His runs rival those of last year, as his teammate also admitted.

Blaney is improving himself

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Ryan Blaney achieved phenomenal success last season, clinching the 2023 Cup championship. However, even that season now has a rival. In 2023, Blaney’s only regular-season victory came in the Coca-Cola 600. He followed that up with Martinsville and Talladega victories in the post-season, before finally getting the Cup trophy. But this year, the No. 12 driver is in a far better position – Blaney already has two wins at Gateway and Pocono. Alongside, seven top fives and 11 top 10s in 26 races. So the apple would not fall far from the tree if we predict Blaney to be a massive contender for a consecutive championship crown.

Don’t just hear it from us, hear it from his teammate too! Even Joey Logano believes that Blaney is improving himself in leaps and bounds. “Yeah, he’s a different person — in a good way, not in a bad way. It’s not like it like went to his head and became a jackass or anything like that. He’s still a good dude, but you can tell that over the last couple years, he’s become more confident, not only off the race track, but you see it on the race track, where he’s putting whole races together now, and all those type of things, right? That’s why he won the championship last year. He’s able to do all that. I mean, that’s part of experience. That’s part of what takes time to learn and do. But, yeah, he’s grown up. Our little Ryan’s all grown up.”

Ryan Blaney is leading the Ford bandwagon to a possible championship yet again. Let us wait and see how things pan out for the Team Penske driver.