Racing is often based mostly on skill, but also a touch of pure luck. In a sport as dangerous as NASCAR, every driver will be praying to make it out of a race in one piece and no injuries. Ahead of every race, a lot of drivers are usually nervous about what to expect. After all, it’s not a race if they are alone on the track. Owing to that, no driver can predict what their fellow competitors will do. They have to place a lot of trust in each other, and in the build-up to races, sometimes they resort to superstitions that might bring them good luck during the race.

Going by the latest updates it looks like the 2023 Cup Series champ also had a pre-race ritual that he follows diligently.

What rituals does Ryan Blaney perform before a NASCAR race?

He told Chipotle, “I have to get in the car the same way every time. So, ear buds, helmet, get in, line belt, left shoulder, right shoulder, crotch belt, gloves on, steering wheel on, ready to go. $50 bills are bad luck in racing. I don’t know why, I was just told this by Richard Petty.”

All this was part of a series of rapid-fire questions posed to the Team Penske driver. This comes after he finished 7th in the 2025 Daytona 500, where he was a strong contender for the win. Well, as it turns out there’s more to this supernatural phenomenon, while Blaney keeps his distance from the $50 bills, there are a few who like to paint their certain way. And going by Nascarasm’s proven theory the luckiest color that a NASCAR driver can roll with is green.

Interestingly, the green color was considered a bad omen as Gaston Chevrolet died in an accident driving a green car. Gaston was the brother of Louis Chevrolet, the founder of the Chevrolet car company. However as years have passed, most of the drivers have overcome this hoodoo. Darrell Waltrip, Kyle Busch, and Tyler Reddick have all done the color and clinched some memorable wins.

Not only that we’ve also grown past the concern of the peanut shells that used to haunt crews and drivers in garages. But, as far as Ryan Blaney is concerned, he will stick to his ritual, in this way he is in control of his own destiny on the racetrack. The question now begs is whether will his pre-race ritual help him reach the highs of 2023.

Is the #12 driver a favorite to win this season?

Over the past few years, Team Penske has been very strong, as evidenced by four titles in the last 7 years. Logano won three of them, in 2018, 2022 and 2024, while Blaney opened his account in 2023. Given the early strong pace at the Daytona 500, it would be hard to count out Team Penske. Especially since Logano and Blaney swept the first and second stages respectively.

Next weekend is the Ambetter Health 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. This was a race where Blaney and Kyle Busch barely missed out on the win to Daniel Suarez in an epic 3-wide finish. So it is safe to say that the 2023 champion will be a favorite to win the race and could be on the verge to open his account for the season.

That being said, the Daytona 500 proved to be very unpredictable, so who’s to say that it won’t be the same at Atlanta? All questions will likely only be answered when the race weekend arrives. Truthfully, Ryan Blaney would have been bitterly disappointed to not win the Daytona 500. On the other end of the spectrum, it could have been a lot worse than 7th place. At least it gives him a bit of momentum heading into Atlanta in the coming NASCAR Cup race weekend.