“That’s a Positive Thing You Have to Have”—Ryan Blaney Dissects His Relationship With Championship-Winning Crew Chief

With two consecutive titles in its camp, Team Penske is riding the hype train, blasting its way into 2024 with its reigning Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney, and 2022 Cup Series champion, Joey Logano, at the front. Ending his agonizing 59-race winless streak at the biggest and longest race of them at Charlotte and bringing home the championship to his boss, Roger Penske, Ryan Blaney just issued a strong statement never to count the dark horse out.

After his triumph at Phoenix, clinching his first-ever title and becoming Ford’s knight in shining armor, saving the all-American manufacturer from total humiliation, the #12 driver recently got honest about his relationship with his crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, the man who played a huge role in his triumph.

Ryan Blaney gets real about his relationship with his crew chief

Now, the sun wasn’t always shining on Blaney or his #12 Penske team. After he won the All-Star race at Texas Motor Speedway in 2022, he went on a dismal 59-race winless streak until he ended that misery by winning the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. And that too did not come easy. Following the 2022 disappointment that got the driver eliminated in the round of 8, Ryan Blaney and Jonathan Hassler took a few steps back, only to bounce back stronger.

Hassler and Blaney went back to the drawing board, identifying their vulnerabilities and strengths and grinding on them during the off-season to come back stronger. Their strenuous and consistent hard work paid off as the dark horse beat the consistent #20 JGR Toyota and the ever-competitive HMS duo of Kyle Larson and William Byron in the final fray to be crowned as the 2023 Cup Series champion.

“I think, uh, since Jonathan and I started working together in 2022, you just get to know the person; you know, you get to know the person better off the track, and at the race track, you know, kind of figuring out each other’s likes and dislikes; you know what I like behind the wheel,” said Ryan Blaney, mentioning the bond he has with Jonathan Hassler.

“I kind of get the feel of what he likes to do a change, how he calls a race, so you just build that relationship. So the past year and a half has been great and that bond just gets stronger with time really,” said Blaney, as Team Penske dropped a new post that highlighted the championship-winning chemistry between the driver and his crew chief.

WATCH THIS STORY: After a stellar season, what does 2024 have in store for Ryan Blaney? 

He then added, saying, “Actually learned to kind of communicate with each other a little better and like I said know, each other’s little tendencies and I think that’s a positive thing you have to have.” 

Hard work paid off! Hassler reveals the hours of grind behind the triumph

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Jonathan Hassler wasn’t your average new kid on the block at Team Penske. Before he took over the responsibility as crew chief for Ryan Blaney for the past 2 Cup Series seasons, Hassler was the race engineer when he joined the team in 2008. According to RACER.com, Jonathan Hassler said, “I’ve been at Team Penske a long time, and Ryan and I had a little bit of a relationship on the side while I was working with some of the other teams.”

He then mentioned how everything fell into place when Blaney’s former crew chief, Todd Gordon, left his position, giving Hassler more responsibility. “He became a friend of mine with some shared interests. When Todd [Gordon] retired and we had some other people moving around, it was certainly the best opportunity available. He’s got tons of speed and tons of talent, and I wanted to get on board.”

READ MORE: After a Stellar Season, What Does 2024 Have in Store for Ryan Blaney?

Jonathan Hassler also revealed the great deal of hard work that went into Blaney’s monumental championship triumph. “We kind of spent last year (2022) learning each other, and we figured out that we could go really fast. We had a lot of speed through a lot of different races. I thought we could have won six or seven races last year if we executed, but we didn’t. So, we really went to work in the off-season of finishing the two-thirds point of the race both on my and on his end.

“We definitely addressed that in the off-season, and obviously, I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” said the #12 crew chief. Making the right adjustments for the season, Hassler and his driver made the team proud, adding one more to the long list of accolades in the Penske camp.