Summer stride: Ryan Blaney, Team Penske apply the heat with midseason momentum

A radio transmission from Ryan Blaney after his first win of the season five weeks ago at Iowa Speedway seemed to signal that a seasonal spark was coming. His message to the Team Penske No. 12 crew hinted that their group was primed to be the team of the summer, indicating their NASCAR Cup Series championship pursuit might be blooming earlier than it did in the year before.

It might not be the Summer of Blaney just yet, but a sterling performance in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway may have planted the first beach umbrella in the sand.

“I feel like the last two months we’ve been spectacular,” Blaney said post-race, and the speed in his No. 12 Ford and in Team Penske’s three-car fleet overall has underscored that feeling. But an understandable unwillingness to relive the downturn that hung on him during last season’s midpoint has also been a motivator.

RELATED: Race results | Blaney powers to Pocono win

Blaney won the Coca-Cola 600 last year at Charlotte Motor Speedway, then went 16 consecutive races without another top-five finish — a slump that stretched through September and into the Cup Series Playoffs. The team eventually caught momentum in the postseason’s later rounds, resulting in his first Cup Series crown, but finding that stride earlier this year has been a prime objective.

“Gosh, we’ve done our homework since Charlotte and figured out how to compete with the Hendrick boys and the Gibbs guys, 23XI. We’re right there,” Blaney said, acknowledging the teams mentioned last weekend as Pocono’s pre-race favorites. “I feel like the summer last year we struggled a little bit just trying to find some things that would work for us come playoff time. I had to sit around all summer and hear that people say that we suck. We didn’t want that this year.”

It’s been quite the turnaround already, within the Roger Penske-owned organization and with Ford in general. The automaker opened the year with a 0-for-12 winless streak for its new Dark Horse Mustang model but has now won five of the last nine Cup Series races to help even the playing field.

No. 12 crew chief Jonathan Hassler noted the progress that the organization had made, learning the handling and aerodynamic nuances related to the new Mustang’s nose design. Teammate Joey Logano’s springtime test at North Wilkesboro Speedway gave the team a lift with its short-track program; gaining speed on the intermediate and other larger ovals was the next goal.

Sunday’s strategy was the other Pocono piece. Hassler said the way that caution periods fell in Stage 2 allowed the No. 12 team to short-pit and flip the final stage for track position. Blaney did the rest by leading the final 44 laps, even if Hassler had flashbacks to last month’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway, where the No. 12 sputtered out of fuel at the white flag.

“I was definitely more nervous today,” Hassler said. “You lose one on the last lap, and you certainly get an appreciation for it’s not over till you take the checkered.”

Blaney offered his own appreciation for the team effort, saying, “it takes a village to make a race team successful” in his post-race remarks. But Blaney also recognized the bookended nature of Sunday’s victory at the site of his first Cup Series win, with the Wood Brothers in the 2017 season.

WATCH: Blaney discusses “special” Pocono victory | Hassler on No. 12’s performance | Flores on team’s championship makeup

That triumph launched the then-23-year-old driver to the next level as he fended off veterans Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch down the stretch, and it remains a fond reflection for Blaney, who turned 30 during the offseason. He also noted that his Cup Series win total now matches his car number at 12.

“I feel like every win is very special. You have to cherish them. You never know when the next one is going to come,” Blaney said. “Hard to believe it’s been seven years since I won the first time here. Time definitely flies.”

Finding a summer streak has also been a team-wide effort, with Team Penske placing all three of its cars on the provisional playoff grid in rapid succession. When Blaney’s fuel tank ran dry at Gateway, teammate Austin Cindric was there to capitalize as the first Penske driver to lock in. Blaney followed two weeks later in Iowa, and just two more weeks had passed when Logano completed the team trifecta in a five-overtime thriller in Nashville.

Blaney acknowledged that the performance swings go in waves and that the Cup Series balance of power can sway accordingly. Getting that timing right has been a Team Penske tendency of late, with Blaney (2023) and Logano (2022) claiming the title in consecutive campaigns.

“It’s just a matter of peaking at a good time. We’ve just been able to do that the last two months of getting all of us in Victory Lane,” Blaney says. “You just hope to continue that. This team does a really good job of not getting complacent. Good or bad, they’re always working towards the future. The end goal in that is (the season finale in) Phoenix. I feel like this is just fueling the fire for us. We’re running really good right now, let’s keep going, keep the hammer down, continue to run really well in these races and just be in contention to win.”

Sunday’s victory was also a capstone that culminated a busy week of appearances and exposure. Blaney crisscrossed the country to take in The Today Show, serve as a presenter and a nominee at the ESPY Awards and participate in a panel discussion for Variety & Sportico’s Sports & Entertainment Summit.

MORE: At-track photos | Cup Series standings

Those visits put Blaney in front of new audiences who might not have been as familiar with NASCAR’s reigning champ. But Sunday, he also took time to savor the moment with the Pocono faithful who jammed the grandstands on a sunny summertime afternoon.

“Yeah, been fortunate to have some cool opportunities and draw eyes,” Blaney said. “You try to appreciate the people that are new to the sport and you also try to show thanks to the people that have been around the sport for a long time. That’s why I stood in Victory Lane for 30 minutes signing autographs to appreciate the people who came out and camped all weekend and hung out and brought their families out. We can’t do it without them folks. Sold-out campground, grandstands. That’s the way this sport should be. I think it’s on a great path right now. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”