Editor's note:
Building on a relationship first forged 10 years ago, Team Penske announced Wednesday that it has signed
The Roger Penske-led team did not disclose terms, but indicated that the long-term deal would keep Blaney on its NASCAR Cup Series roster "well into the future."
"It's really nice to get something done. Me and [
Blaney included a long list of thank-yous, from Penske himself, to executive vice president
"It just really means a lot that they've believed in me for 10 years and looking forward to continue that hopefully for a really, really long time," Blaney said. "So they've been a family of mine, and I owe them a lot, that's for sure."
Blaney's last contract extension with the organization was announced in
That first developmental deal with Penske set an initial course for part-time duty in the Xfinity Series, where Blaney first wowed the
"To be just, on one hand, noticed by a big team like Penske, and having me out there and meeting with Brad, meeting with
"So I never would have thought, when we pieced together a car to go run
The people, Blaney says, are what made him singularly focused on re-signing. His first Cup Series win came with the family-run Wood Brothers group in 2017. He transitioned to the No. 12 team the following year, when Team Penske expanded to a three-car operation.
Though he's now with the larger
"They've been amazing to me, and I'm almost sometimes just nervous to ask them for stuff because they already do so much," Blaney says. "They're always talking like, 'you could ask for anything you want. If you need something changed or need something at all just ask us,' but that always just makes me nervous because they've done so much for me, I've always kind of been sometimes quiet on that deal.
"But the people make you feel at home and make you feel welcome, and to know that they look up to you so much to perform well for them, it gives me extra motivation to want to do well for those guys and girls who are working at the race shop and maybe don't even get a chance to go to the track. People that have never been to the track, who are engineers that are solely based at the shop, they even make you feel like home as well and you try to give it back to them. So I mean, that's been the biggest thing to me is they've treated me great. And I couldn't picture myself being anywhere else where they would treat me as good as the Penske and Wood Brothers folks have over the years."
With his long-term future secured, the short-term goal of reaching the Cup Series Playoffs for the sixth straight year remains on his to-do list. Blaney ranks provisionally as the last driver in the field of 16, holding a 26-point edge over
With 15 winners already through 24 races this year, the playoff picture is an already crowded place. The series heads to
"If we couldn't win
"I mean, if there's a new winner this weekend, then we know our job going into Daytona. And if we're the bubble car into Daytona, then you know your job of trying to win the race, trying to do your best to stay up there and just contend for a win and hope that a new winner doesn't emerge and you're punched out. So at the same time, you still have to be aware that you're still racing the 19 (Truex) for trying to have a points cushion, especially going into Daytona. So, yeah, just trying to win, trying to build the point gap and just doing what we can. I try not to get too fixated or distracted from what other teams are doing, even though you're noticing what the 19 group does and other groups, but I think the best thing you can do is just focus on yourself, because you're not going to change other people's outcomes, you can only control your own."
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