No driver has won back-to-back Cup titles since the end of Jimmie Johnson's unprecedented five-year run in 2010, and it's never been done in this volatile knockout format. What would it mean to Ryan Blaney to accomplish such a feat? According to the Team Penske driver, it would be even bigger than the first.
"There's a lot of neat milestones we all can accomplish this weekend," said Blaney. "But yeah, I think it would just mean a lot to go back to back. It's something that's really difficult to do obviously. It hasn't been done in a while. There's a reason for that. It's hard to get here two years in a row and then perform on the weekend.
"It would mean the world. It would mean more than the first, to be honest with you."
Blaney's path to the Championship 4 is also similar to one year ago. After winning his way into the playoffs, he marched forward through each round on points alone before winning the penultimate race of the year at Martinsville. Blaney also noted that the preparation has been "pretty much the same" as well.
"I'm kind of a big believer if you have your routine and it works for you, don't really do anything less or anything more," explained Blaney. "When you find something that works for you, for a certain moment ... That's just from my side and Jonathan's [Hassler, crew chief] side ... But yeah, my prep work? Very similar to how I deal with every single weekend. Look at past notes, talk to Jonathan, talk to Timmy [Fedewa, spotter], see where I think the track's going to be, where Jonathan thinks it's going to be, strategy. Yeah, I mean, I don't really approach anything very different no matter what race it is."
However, there is something different this year and it involves who he is racing against. Team Penske won the 2022 title with Joey Logano and Blaney in 2023, but this year, both drivers are in the Championship 4. How does Penske balance that with two teams who constantly share information going for the same trophy?
"We do a great job at communication between the drivers and the crew chiefs, engineers, car chiefs," said Blaney of Team Penske. "Everybody is very good at communicating back and forth of what we have. There's never any secrets that are kept no matter what it is. There's two of us racing for the championship, still an open book.
"And that's not about to change as they try to earn a third straight title for Penske. You don't want to stray from that path just because you're racing against each other for a championship. You race together, against each other, every week. You have to use your strengths. That's one of our strengths, is communication," he says.
