Ryan Blaney can't deny that cutting a tire and crashing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway frustrated him. Yet, he has quickly moved on from this DNF. His age played a role, as did the late Macho Man Randy Savage.
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How does a professional wrestler relate to the NASCAR Cup Series and its playoff format? The answer is simple — Savage once made a statement, "Unjustifiably in a position I'd rather not be in, but the cream will rise to the top." This hit home for Blaney.
" If I'm sitting at home and I'm bored, and maybe I've had a couple drinks, I will go watch Randy Savage interviews, just because I think he was amazing (laughing)," Blaney told media members on Wednesday. "What was going through that man's head, but that's my favorite one.
"He keeps pulling out the creamer and unjustifiably in a position I'd rather not be in, but the cream will rise to the top, and I hope that is what we can use for this weekend. I thought that was a perfect comparison to my situation, so, thank you, Mr. Savage."
Blaney's situation is interesting. He entered the Round of 8 above the Championship 4 cutline. He had a six-point cushion. All he needed to do was run well, score some stage points, and see how everything shook out. Obviously, a win would automatically put him in the championship race, but he could maintain his cushion to the cutline by having a solid afternoon at the Nevada track.
This did not happen. Blaney crashed on Lap 72 due to a cut tire and failed to continue in the race. This dropped him to 31 points below the cutline and last in the Round of 8 standings. Now, he has to rebound this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway or next weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Those are his only opportunities to return to the Championship 4.
This could create considerable frustration for the 2023 Cup Series champion, but he is not taking this route. He's seen his team rebound from worse situations in the past, and he's just chnaged his outlook as he has moved into his 30s.
"I think it gets easier as you get older and you're outlook on things change and you're just trying to look ahead a little bit more," Blaney said.
"I think some of it come naturally and just natural growth, but other is just having these conversations with myself years ago of, 'Hey, I want to kind of change this up about me,' because early in my career I would stew on things a little bit longer and now I try to just drop things and move on from them, so it's a little bit of both, but I think that's the healthiest way I've been able to deal with it."
Blaney has dealt with multiple setbacks in the playoffs as the pressure has increased. Sometimes, he and the No. 12 team have fallen short of their goals. The 2022 season is a fitting example as miscues at Homestead-Miami Speedway dropped Blaney to 18 below the cutline heading into the elimination race at Martinsville.
He needed to win at Martinsville to reach the Championship 4, but Christopher Bell did so instead to take one of two remaining spots. Ross Chastain took the other by riding the wall and gaining enough points.
In 2023 and '24, however, Blaney and his team rose to the occasion. They won the elimination races at Martinsville both times and locked up spots in the Championship 4. The team ended one of these seasons as champions, something Blaney hopes to do once more as he relies on age, experience, and Macho Man Randy Savage.
