INDIANAPOLIS — Ryan Blaney realizes his NASCAR Cup Series team has an opportunity to do something historic in Sunday’s 30th Anniversary Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Should Blaney or teammates Austin Cindric or Joey Logano win Sunday’s 400-mile race on the IMS oval, it would give Team Penske a sweep of the major races held at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2024.
In May, Team Penske swept the front row for the 108th Indianapolis 500 for only the second time in the long and storied history of the event. Scott McLaughlin won the pole, Will Power started in the middle of Row 1 and Josef Newgarden the outside of the front row.
In the race, Newgarden became the first back-to-back winner of the Indianapolis 500 when he battled Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward in a thrilling duel at the end of the race that saw the lead change hands twice on the final lap.
On Sunday, the Brickyard 400 returns to the IMS oval for the first time since Kevin Harvick drove to victory in 2020.
Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Champion, would like to put the exclamation point on the clean sweep for Roger Penske, who not only owns Team Penske — he also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“I drive for him,” Blaney told SPEED SPORT Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “We know how special this place is. It’s not even talked about in our camp, you just know.
“You know what it means. It has meant the world ever since I got there in 2012 before bought the race track and it’s doubled now that he does.”
For Blaney, the son of grassroots racing star and later a NASCAR Cup Series driver Dave Blaney, he knows how special IMS is since Ryan arrived as a driver in 2012.
For Roger Penske, it’s a chance to add even more to his already voluminous history.
“We have a unique opportunity to sweep Indy this year with Josef winning the 500 and us coming here and having a good shot, hopefully on the NASCAR side,” Blaney said. “We have a cool opportunity to do something really special and that’s what you want to do for RP.
“You just want to make memories and do well by his race team and do well by him. It’s a big weekend with a lot of pressure for us, but this race team loves pressure.
“It’s a busier weekend, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”
Blaney and Team Penske arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on a tremendous surge. He won last Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway, a track that features some flat corners such as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
For Team Penske, it swept both IndyCar races in the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway with Scott McLaughlin winning the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 on July 13 and Will Power driving to victory in the Hy-Vee OneStep 250 on Sunday, July 14.
That completed a sweep of all three top races at Iowa Speedway in 2024 because Blaney won the Iowa Corn 350 presented by Ethanol on June 16, the first NASCAR Cup Series race at the seven-eighths mile Iowa Speedway.
Blaney has a good friend on the IndyCar side in Scott McLaughlin.
“I texted him before last weekend, ‘Hey, if you win, we can share the corn together and be Corn Brothers,’” Blaney said. “And he did it.
“I couldn’t let him one-up me, so I had to go out and win at Pocono on Sunday.”
The two celebrated together at the winner’s toast that Team Penske holds at its race shop in Mooresville, N.C., every time one of its drivers and teams wins a race.
It was a triple toast this past week as Blaney, McLaughlin and Power were all honored for their victories from last weekend.
“We were able to celebrate together, he’s a good guy and it’s great to see him successful,” Blaney said. “I met him at Watkins Glen in 2018. I had followed him in Supercars over the years and cheered him on and loved watching him. I was really excited when they added him to the IndyCar program on our team.
“I think he’s one of the best race car drivers in the world. It’s a plus that he’s a good guy, too.”
Blaney is the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion and has proven to be one of the best stock car drivers in the world. Team Penske is one of the great racing teams in the world.
And, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is without a doubt, the world’s most famous race course.
“It’s always special when you drive through the tunnel between turns 1 and 2,” Blaney said. “You know what this place means. You see the Pagoda. Nothing beats the first laps on this track. It’s a surreal feeling.
“I remember watching Dad qualify and then I came here in 2012 with Tommy Baldwin in an Xfinity Series race and now I’m here in a Penske car.”
It’s important for NASCAR to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for both the racing series and the Speedway itself.
The drivers realize that and Blaney hopes the racing is much better than in the past.
“I hope it’s a good race,” Blaney said. “Gosh, this place deserves a good showing. It’s nice to be back on the big track. That’s the Brickyard to me.
“Hopefully, this car is raceable. You need more clean air space to get some options. We’ll see. Hopefully, the runs are big enough that we can make moves.
“The steering is different. It’s more nimble, but that feels normal to us now. Hopefully, it puts on a good show.”
Blaney believes it will be a strategic race. He used Friday’s practice to see how the car handles in traffic and believes the car will have to be freed up on downforce to make it work properly in the race.”
Should he win on Sunday, he’s going to put his own, unique spin on the post-race celebration of kissing the bricks.
“I’m going to lick the bricks if I win,” Blaney said. “That’s going to be nasty but if I could do it with RP, it would be special, no doubt.”