Expectant Father Ryan Blaney Brings New Perspective to Talladega

As Ryan Blaney prepares for one of the most unpredictable races of the season, Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, he has more than points, pit strategy, and a hopeful race win on his mind.

Blaney's wife, Gianna, is expecting the couple's first child.

Blaney enters the second race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 in the basement of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings. Following a tire failure, which led to a crash that ended his day early last weekend in Las Vegas, Blaney finds himself staring up at a 31-point deficit to the Playoff cutline. He knows what's at stake, a chance to become a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, but fatherhood has already begun to shift how the driver thinks following a bad day on the race track.

"It puts it into perspective for me," Blaney explained in a media teleconference, "like, ‘Hey, if I have a tough day, it’s nothing compared to if she has a tough day’ because she is having to deal with this and making sure that our child is all good and that she is being healthy.’ It definitely changes your outlook, and then when he arrives, it’s gonna change your outlook even more.”

Blaney's calm demeanor heading into one of NASCAR's most chaotic tracks isn't just the result of maturity behind the wheel; it's a reflection of his changing life off the track. He's approaching Talladega with a level-headedness that seems rooted not just in experience, but also in clarity.

“I think I used to overthink [superspeedway racing], for sure, because there’s a lot going on and it’s easy to get overwhelmed when there’s so much information being thrown at you, but, at the end of the day, you just kind of do," Blaney explained.

Blaney continued, "...sometimes you make the wrong decision, and sometimes you make the right decision. That’s just kind of the way it goes. You’re not gonna make the right decision every time, but do what you think is best in the moment. And I’d say I used to sit around late at night earlier in my life and just run through all these different scenarios and drive myself crazy of, ‘well, if this happens, that happens, and it can go downhill like this,’ it’s kind of a spiral.

"So, I think it’s a getting older type thing of, ‘hey, I can only control so much and let’s just try to do the best job we can at controlling what we can control,’ and the rest of it, good or bad, is gonna play itself out and you just hope the stars are aligned for you."

That is not to say the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse is lacking motivation. Blaney is a two-time winner at Talladega Superspeedway, and he captured the win in the most recent NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway event, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in August. Blaney simply knows how to navigate the chaos when it counts at this style of track.

With a strong finish on Sunday, Blaney could put himself in a position to reach the Championship 4 again, and maybe even welcome his child into the world as a two-time Cup Series champion.

Still, Blaney has a clear perspective. Racing is only part of his story, now.

"The way that [Gianna has] been able to overcome things that her body is changing and things that maybe aren’t ideal that come up through her pregnancy that she has to deal with, and just how do we move forward together. I think you just realize that there are bigger things out there," Blaney said. "Your job is obviously important, but other things are just as important if not more, so Gianna has honestly been amazing."