Ryan Blaney‘s long-awaited victory finally arrived at the Coca-Cola 600. This win also marked a significant milestone for his team owner, Roger Penske. It was the team’s consecutive victory as it came a day after Josef Newgarden delivered Penske’s 19th Indianapolis 500 victory. Despite all this, Ryan seemed down in the dumps in an interview after his Charlotte win.
Behind the wheel of the number 12 Penske Ford, Ryan demonstrated impressive consistency and maintained remarkable speed throughout the race. Leading for nearly 163 laps. Penske driver snatched the victory from the polesitter, William Byron. Finally, Ryan was able to break his winless streak on Monday. Talking about the same in the post-race press conference, Ryan opened up about the challenging impact that winless races had on his confidence.
How Ryan Blaney’s Previous Race Performances Affected His Self Confidence
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Winless races can significantly impact drivers’ confidence. Especially when they have been performing well. Similarly, the driver of the number 12 car had been enduring a harsh, winless streak of 59 races.
When asked about how he deals with such situations, his response revealed the depth of his frustration. Ryan expressed that sometimes things don’t go right despite the best of efforts. He mentioned feeling like his cars may not have been fast enough to win races or that he made too many mistakes. The #12 car’s pilot made a sad seven-word admission.
When asked, “When you have those moments of self doubt, what do you do to kind of pull yourself out of it?” Blaney answered, “Everyone deals with them a little differently.”
“I’m not the most self-confident person out there to begin with. When you do get in doubt of your abilities to do something, it’s really hard to pull yourself out of it, at least for me personally, just because I don’t have that self-confidence that some guys have. It takes me a little bit more convincing.”
READ MORE: “Shocked” Team Penske Star Ryan Blaney Names the “Stupidest Race Car Driver Ever” at Daytona 500
Despite the driver’s solid performances throughout the current season, he has been unfortunate not to secure a victory. Perhaps luck has played a role in preventing him from achieving triumph.
“I Might Shed a Tear”: Ryan Blaney Gets Emotional After His Charlotte Win
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The Coca-Cola 600 was affected by weather conditions, resulting in the race being postponed for a day. The qualifying positions were determined based on drivers’ previous performances. Fortunately, Ryan Blaney secured the eighth-place starting position due to his impressive performances in previous races.
As a driver for Team Penske, Ryan has consistently achieved top-10 finishes in most races. Notably, he finished in second place at both Phoenix and Talladega this year. Although, he was not able to secure any triumphs. But victory at the Coca-Cola 600 solidified his spot in the playoffs alongside breaking his winless streak. During the post-race interview, Ryan expressed his emotions, stating, “I might shed a tear.“
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As quoted by NASCAR.com, Ryan Blaney said, “I just was able to get the lead, and that car was so good that I could kind of bide my time a little bit and then we were able to drive off. I was hoping no caution, just because you never know.
“I know we had the car to do it, but restarts can be crazy… You start to get to feel like you can’t win anymore when you don’t win in a while. It kind of gets hard. So just super thankful to the 12 guys for believing in me…”
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It will be interesting to see how this victory boosts Ryan Blaney’s confidence for upcoming races. What do you think about it? Let us know in the comment section.