It came as a shocker to many when Ryan Blaney emerged as the Cup championship contender last year as he made it to the playoffs with just one win and three top 5 finishes to his name. But, this time around, the defending champion wants to send out a clear message to all his rivals.
Just before this year's playoffs, Blaney has fired shots at his rivals and warned them that he is not an underdog anymore. Till now this season, Blaney has won two races and has 5 top-five finishes to his name.
What does Ryan Blaney have to say about his mindset?
While doing the media duties, Blaney showed confidence and even mentioned the mindset that he will approach the playoffs.
"That’s what I’ve told my guys. I want to scare every other team. Like, I want you guys to be so good that everyone is nervous about us when we unload. That’s the kind of the mindset that we’ve tried to have because I think that’s a great mindset for everyone on the team to have. Like, you want everybody worrying about you because you can be that dangerous, and I think we definitely are," Blaney said, as quoted by Sportskeeda.
Hoping to replicate last year's intensity in the NASCAR playoffs
Last season, Blaney had just one top-10 finish in the first round of the playoffs. He then did some tweaking in his technique and won a race in the round of 12. He did not stop there as he levelled up his game after winning in the round of 8 along with one top five and top ten finishes respectively.
This is something Blaney did to boost his playoff run this season. This also provided impetus to his side, underscoring the experience they drew from last season's campaign.
"I definitely think you’re more confident in trying to get back to Phoenix. It’s not as simple as just ‘do what you did last year,’ though. But I feel like once you have that experience and you persevere through the three rounds to get there, I think it just really motivates your team and just gives them a level of confidence of like, 'Hey, we know we can do this. We’ve been there before, and now let’s try to figure out a way to do it again and accept all the challenges that are going to be thrown at you and use your experience to your advantage," Blaney concluded.
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