“It’s just part of who I am” are Ryan Blaney’s honest words for all those critics against his passionate outburst over the radio. His stance on his radioactivity is much better than the dirty racing on the tracks. This often gets overlooked while the focus remains on him. Perhaps fans need a perceptional shift to examine what his rivals are doing on the track. 

Blaney getting vocal during the Brickyard 400 and his heated battle with Shane van Gisbergen over the Martinsville incident has exposed him to intense backlash from fans. Reflecting on his radio experiences, where he crashed out, he shared his views on the unfortunate happening.

Why did Ryan Blaney blow up? 

On the NASCAR racing podcast, Door Bumper Clear, co-host, Karsyn Elledge asked about the term crashing out and how Ryan is used to it on the radio, Blaney explained himself politely.

“You know, people give me a hard time for, you know I get animated sometimes on the radio…For 5 seconds…Well, the thing that the biggest thing I have is I get asked all the time, like, you know, hey, why do you radio y’all that’s yada yada. And they give me such a hard time about media and stuff, but they never give guys hard times for f***ing people, wrecking the hell out of people. It’s like, this should be the stuff you’re worried about. Like, I don’t know. I’d rather lose my mind for 5 seconds on the radio than Yeah. Wreck guys all the time like some of these guys do.” He said on the show.

What happened with Blaney at the Indianapolis Brickyard 400 was unfortunately a missed opportunity. However, his outburst on the team’s radio was enough for fans with reasons to criticize his reaction towards Kyle Larson. This was surely a frustrating moment for him, especially after coming close to securing a prime position. The final restarts shifted the race in favor of the Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson when Brad Keselowski ran out of fuel, leading to a chaotic restart scenario for both Blaney and himself. He couldn’t contain his frustration when the third-place driver was allowed to lead, despite him being in second place.

Frustrated, Blaney reacted on his team’s radio, “There’s no way they should’ve let that go green. That’s ridiculous. They just gave it to him. It’s f***ing over, I’m on the top. I ain’t gonna win from the top. Gave it to f***ing golden boy. Son of a b**ch.” However, this blowup was his way of tackling his emotions during the race. Going ahead, in TrackHopper’s YouTube video, he explained, “I try not to hold grudges. These outbursts are like a blow-off valve for me. I get it out, and then I’m over it in 10 seconds. I don’t think it ever hurts my performance. It’s just a way for me to reset and move on quickly.I wish I didn’t have it, but it’s just part of me. I get it out, reset, and move on.”

Blaney’s 2024 season was a bit rocky, despite his victory at the Martinsville race, which got him a spot in Championship 4. Still, his performance got sidelined due to accusations of race manipulation that somehow reframed his aggressive driving style into a controversial narrative. However, after the race, NASCAR investigated matters and fined and penalized the respective entities and individuals for backing this sort of tactic.

However, at present, as Ryan Blaney prepares for the 2025 Cup Series, he surely looks upon supporting a fair racing culture that values integrity and sportsmanship. As he expressed his biasedness toward Helio. 

Ryan Blaney’s 2025 season and views on things

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Ryan Blaney had a blast night at the Bowman Gray Clashout, even after starting at 23, he managed to make his way through the 2nd position, with his crew chief Jonathan Hassler. He indeed chased Elliott and Hamlin the way he came closer to the lead in every lap. “I was saying last year we came from last to third, this year last to second. Got to not start last and have a shot to win one of these things. Yeah, that was fun. That was a blast.” Said Blaney post-race to the NASCAR.com.

Where Hassler expressed that the radiator leak that they had could have cost them points, but it was good for them that there weren’t any points involved. Still, the way his car performed on Sunday night was itself an agile race in his favor. “He’s a great short-track racer,…I mean, he’s able to pass on a lot of tracks where guys struggle to pass at, like Martinsville. This is our second year in a row to come from the back — we were third last year at LA and to get to second this year — so he’s just a really good short-track racer, and obviously, we gave him a good car as well.” Hassler said. 

Not only his car is fueled enough to give tough competition to the drivers, but he is also revved up to stay ahead in the competition. Beyond this, the way he looks upon the rising competitive landscape is worth taking note of where he expressed his views on Helio Castrovenes who drove for Team Penske in IndyCar until 2020. 

“I might be biased, but I love Helio, so I was psyched when it was like, ‘OK, he’s running the 500. Oh, and he’s locked in? (…) That’s great for Helio. He was in Indy Cars when I was over there at Penske for a while before he moved on, so I love Helio, and I’m happy that I’m gonna be able to race against him.” Blaney said in a recent press conference, pointing out to how he would like a good racer to be his adversary.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the optimistic and spirited 31-year-old champion of Team Penske, Ryan Blaney, will seek his next championship trophy after the 2023 wins. After an incredible 2022 season, he narrowly missed the title due to his teammate Joey Logano’s performance. Well, it’s just the start to the 2025 season and more races are on the way to cheer him. How excited are you to see him win this Cup Series Season?