Ryan Blaney’s first Cup title comes with more than a trophy that weighs nearly 70 pounds, a check with several zeros and a journal so secret that only former champions know its contents.
Blaney’s championship last November at Phoenix also gives him greater access to the inner workings of the sport and a bigger voice to help shape NASCAR’s future.
It is one of the perks of being a champion. Some drivers use their platform behind closed doors to help steer the sport. Some are more public about their beliefs.
When Brad Keselowski won the 2012 Cup championship, he used part of his speech at the season-ending banquet to call for unity, saying then: “I hope that every one of us can continue to work together and find that common ground, and, as a champion, I want to be your leader, and I want to help you make it happen.”
Blaney offered no such soliloquies in his speech, but he is aware of the power he can have. It’s something two-time Cup champion Joey Logano discussed with his teammate.
“I just said don’t let the opportunity be a waste,” Logano said of his advice to Blaney. “You can do a lot with the platform that he has, for his own brand, for all of us as a sport. … There’s a lot of really cool things that happen. You can really influence decisions and make the sport better and he should. He’s the current champion.”
Logano has turned his two Cup crowns into becoming a key behind-the-scenes role in the sport and also has become a conduit to the fans with an hourly appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio most weeks.
Blaney also enters this year as one of the main characters of the Netflix NASCAR series— the first time the streaming service has had a program on the Cup playoffs. While Denny Hamlin was the star because of how much more he shared with the cameras, Blaney also was a key figure by winning the championship. He and Bubba Wallace did various media events in New York City ahead of the Jan. 30 debut of the Netflix show.
Blaney’s championship also comes at a key point for the sport. Blaney, who turned 30 on Dec. 31, was the third driver in the last four years to win the Cup crown at age 29 or younger, joining Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. A new generation is taking over the sport. Blaney and those his age will be the next caretakers of the sport.
“I think he’s certainly enough of a veteran and enough of a young guy that’s got a runway ahead of him that he has that voice and can be very powerful within our sport if he chooses to do that,” Hamlin said of Blaney. “I hope he does.
“I think he’s going to be a huge asset to this sport. Kevin’s (Harvick) gone, I’ll be gone in a few years, and Martin (Truex Jr.) will be gone in a few years. You’ve got to have that next group be willing to step up. I think Ryan definitely could be that guy if he so chooses, but if not, there’s others that maybe don’t have the stature of accomplishments that could potentially do it as well.”
Monday’s Daytona 500 was won by 26-year-old William Byron, the fifth-youngest driver to win the sport’s biggest race. Only Trevor Bayne (20 years old), Austin Cindric (23), Logano (24) and Jeff Gordon (25) were younger than Byron when they won the Daytona 500.
Blaney said he’s willing to be a leader in the sport, but will do it in his own way.
“I’ve never been one to always raise my hand and speak up with anything that’s on my mind,” Blaney said. “If I speak out on something, that’s really important to me, and I really have a strong feeling about it. I’ve always thought that less words used the right way is better than a lot of words used for nothing.
“I think that’s something I might do a little bit more is maybe bringing up things that I think are important for this sport and bringing them up more, whether it’s internally with NASCAR or if it gets to doing them externally in the public, then maybe I have to, but I’m never going to be one to have a voice just to have a voice.”
2. What to do with the Clash?
While the focus turns to the track with the NASCAR season underway, series officials have a decision to make about next year’s Clash.
The exhibition race has been held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum the past three years. Returning there would maintain NASCAR’s presence in Southern California since the speedway in Fontana, California, is not an option for next season. NASCAR has stated it plans to turn that 2-mile Fontana speedway into a short track but much remains before that happens.
The Athletic recently reported that NASCAR is looking at moving the Clash to Mexico, possibly as soon as next year.
Key questions to ask about the Clash are what is its purpose and can that change?
For years, it served as a setup for the Daytona 500 when it also was at Daytona International Speedway. Attendance and interest in the event waned and NASCAR moved the race to the road course before shipping it west.
Holding the event in the Coliseum was a novel concept. It showed that NASCAR sought ways to bring its races to larger population centers. It’s the same concept that led to the Chicago Street Race.
So think about areas that NASCAR can take a race and reach a larger audience. The challenge in the U.S. is that most football stadiums are not likely to be wide enough for a track like at the Coliseum. That facility has a running track beyond the width of the football field. Other stadiums don’t have that. Their stands are closer to the field, creating a tighter footprint to put a quarter-mile track within.
Another key element to consider is that the Clash is held on the weekend between the NFL conference championship games and the Super Bowl. There’s minimal competition for NASCAR in terms of major events on the weekend between those events. So NASCAR needs to find a way to continue to race on that weekend.
That means NASCAR must look at warm weather locales to continue to run on that date if it chooses to leave the Coliseum. The Super Bowl is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2025. That would make Feb. 2 the date for NASCAR to race the Clash or any other event.
An option to consider would be moving a points race to the weekend before the Super Bowl and run the Daytona 500 two weeks later as the second race of the season. NASCAR then could move the Clash to the summer and run it overseas.
The Daytona 500 hasn’t always been the first race of the season. NASCAR opened the season at Riverside, California, from 1972-81 and then went to Daytona. The Daytona 500 has been the season-opening race since 1982.
Why not open the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and then run at Daytona two weeks later? If Phoenix is going to remain the season finale, then give Las Vegas the season opener.
If so, then what to do with the Clash?
Starting next year, NASCAR can have off weekends earlier in the summer. This season, NASCAR is taking a two-week break in late July and early August while NBC Sports broadcasts the Olympics.
With the next media rights deal, NBC Sports will broadcast the final 14 races of the season from 2025-31. The 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles are scheduled to be held July 14-30. The final 14 Cup races most likely will come after the Olympics.
So, there won’t be a need for a two-week Olympic break after this year. That would give NASCAR the freedom to move its off weekends around each year of the new media rights deal.
NASCAR could use an off weekend either before or after a race overseas, giving teams additional time to travel there or back. NASCAR could use the Clash — with its unique rules and shorter distance — as a way to spotlight stock car racing in an international market. That was the purpose of NASCAR’s Garage 56 car that competed in the 24 Hours of LeMans last year.
Asked last November at Phoenix about racing internationally in 2025 and beyond, NASCAR President Steve Phelps said: “I think 2025 and really beyond look like there’s a number of opportunities. … There’s been a lot of discussions in other areas not only in the U.S. but other opportunities in North America and outside the U.S.”
Showcasing the sport overseas also is important as NASCAR continues to seek additional car manufacturers to join Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota in the series.
“There is certainly interest,” Phelps said at Phoenix last November of other manufacturers competing in NASCAR’s stock car ranks. “I think one of the reasons we went over with Garage 56 was to continue to spur that interest.”
3. A special win
Nick Sanchez’s victory in last week’s NASCAR Truck Series race at Daytona for Rev Racing marked his first victory in that series.
The 22-year-old always wanted to be a racer as a child but thought he would take a path to IndyCar racing. Then his mom found information on NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program.
Sanchez is Cuban-American, making him eligible for the program. He was 16 and had been racing go-karts for about 3 ½ years when he sought an invitation to the Drive for Diversity combine.
Max Siegel, owner of Rev Racing, has collaborated with NASCAR on the Drive for Diversity program for the past 16 years. It ran under different leadership its first four years.
Siegel brought an academy-style program in-house that develops drivers from Legends cars up to the Truck Series. Sanchez got his start in the program in 2017 in a Legends car. Last year was his first full-time season in the Truck Series with Rev Racing. It came after he won the 2022 ARCA Menards Series title with Rev Racing.
Sanchez and Rajah Caruth, who came from iRacing, have both advanced to the Truck Series. They look to join fellow Drive for Diversity graduates Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez in the Cup Series.
Suarez says he doesn’t think he would be in NASCAR if not for the Drive for Diversity program.
“That program really saved my butt in 2013,” Suarez said. “ … At that point, I was struggling, I didn’t have any money. I was struggling a lot.”
Even with the successes of Larson, Wallace and Suarez, Siegel said there’s more to do with the program looking ahead.
“You’ve got to keep developing a lot of drivers,” Siegel told NBC Sports at last October’s Drive for Diversity combine at Trackhouse Motorplex in Mooresville, North Carolina. “You’ve got to keep the pipeline.”
Siegel noted how teams don’t have the resources to have as deep of driver development programs as they once did. That’s where Rev Racing can help.
“There are no big teams out there that are really focused on having a diverse pipeline,” Siegel said. “That’s a huge gap. I feel like we have been providing a service to the teams to get these young people ready for other opportunities.”
After 16 years, it would be understandable if Siegel wanted to move on to other things. He also serves as the CEO of USA Track and Field — a role he’s had since May 1, 2012. He received a contract extension last November to remain CEO through the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Still, he remains an owner of Rev Racing and guides the Drive for Diversity program.
“My wife and I have been completely unwavering,” Siegel told NBC Sports. “I wouldn’t be where I am today unless there were people who would open the door for me, invest in me, support me. … I know there’s so many people, parents that need to be touched, leaders in the community, young people. It gets me motivated. I’m thinking about the future.”
4. Looking ahead to Atlanta
Brad Keselowski enters this weekend with a 99-race winless streak. His last win was April 2021 at Talladega. He lost the lead on the last lap to Joey Logano at last spring’s Atlanta race.
Corey LaJoie finished fourth at Daytona, John Hunter Nemechek was seventh and Noah Gragson was ninth. All three seek their first back-to-back top-10 finishes in Cup.
LaJoie is one of four drivers who have finished in the top five more than once since Atlanta was reconfigured. The others are Daniel Suarez, William Byron and Ross Chastain. Both of Byron’s top fives were wins. Both of Chastain’s top fives were runner-up results.
Byron seeks to become the first driver since Matt Kenseth in 2009 to win the first two races of the season.
Toyota remains winless on drafting tracks in the Next Gen car era (since 2022). Toyota’s last win on a drafting track was by Bubba Wallace at Talladega in 2021.
In the four Cup races since Atlanta was reconfigured, there has been an average of 21.5 cars involved in accidents per race.
5. Near the top of the list
William Byron’s Daytona 500 victory was his 11th career Cup win. His first came at Daytona in the 2020 regular-season finale.
In the 120 races since Byron scored his first career win, 27 different drivers have won at least one Cup race.
Byron’s 11 wins in that time ranks second to Kyle Laron’s 17 during that time.
Here is a look at the drivers who have won the most Cup races since that August 2020 Daytona event:
17 - Kyle Larson
11 - William Byron
10 - Chase Elliott
8 - Denny Hamlin
7 - Joey Logano
7 - Kyle Busch
7 - Martin Truex Jr.
6 - Ryan Blaney
6 - Christopher Bell
5 - Alex Bowman
5 - Tyler Reddick
In the Next Gen era (since 2022), William Byron has won 9 of the 73 points races. That ranks first in that period. Here’s a look at the top winners in the Next Gen car era:
9 - William Byron
7 - Kyle Larson
5 - Denny Hamlin
5 - Chase Elliott
5 - Joey Logano
5 - Christopher Bell
5 - Tyler Reddick
4 - Kyle Busch
4 - Ross Chastain
4 - Chris Buescher
