Ryan Blaney has not won a NASCAR Cup Series points race in 55 starts. It is the second longest in the series behind Brad Keselowski (70), dating back to late 2021 in the summer race at Daytona International Speedway.
The Team Penske driver is well aware. Choosing to not focus on it goes deeper than not being concerned about the drought.
“It can definitely eat away at your confidence,” Blaney said Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, where he is a two-time winner. “Confidence is a big deal in this thing, and it’s easy to lose it when you’re not performing or not winning. It makes you think, ‘Can I still do this? Can I be competitive at this level? Am I doing everything I can?’
“That definitely can eat at you, but I try not to think about that. I’m not the most confident person to begin with, so I try not to get it any lower than what it is on a normal basis.”
Not a confident person? Chalk one up for the honest tab.
“I could definitely be more confident. It’s just been that way the whole time,” he explained. “My dad (Dave Blaney) is the same way. We’re the same people — very self-critical. I think there’s a fine line between c onfidence and ego, and I don’t ever want to get to the ego level, so I stay low on the confidence scale.”