Ryan Blaney has sights set on Victory Lane

Ryan Blaney in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 12, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona.
Ryan Blaney in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 12, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona.
Ryan Blaney in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 12, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona.

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Wood Brothers Racing driver Ryan Blaney may be locked in a heated battle against Chase Elliott for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors, but that’s not Blaney’s primary focus.

In point of fact, he’d much rather win a race.

“The main goal is to win,” asserted Blaney, fresh from a strong sixth-place finish in last Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “We’re not really here to points race. I want to win races. That’s every team’s goal, and we’re so early in the season I don’t even look at points. I don’t care about that. I care about running like we did at Las Vegas. That run last week, there was a point in the race where I felt if we worked a little harder and things went our way that we might have a shot to win a race if we keep having runs like that.

“I think if you consistently run in the top 10, then I feel like you are very close to trying to get a win. I don’t want to say it’s out of the question. It’s never out of the question for any team, especially with restrictor-plate stuff. I didn’t come into this year expecting to win. Of course you want to, but you don’t say you will definitely win a race. I think we have a strong team, though, and it’s definitely not out of the question.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.