A timely rebound from a slow pit stop was just what was needed to elevate Ryan Blaney to 2023 champion. See what he had to say following his title win.
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00:00 >> Rick, not only did the flag barely survive the burnout, the car barely survived the burnout
00:04 as well.
00:06 Almost wall contact, almost a fire as well.
00:09 That belongs to you as a cup series champion, Ryan Blaney.
00:13 Boy, a rough pit stop, you somehow put the team on your shoulders.
00:17 An incredible battle with Kyle Larson.
00:21 What did you say to yourself before that final restart, Ryan?
00:26 >> Just time to go to work.
00:27 You know, I mean, we did a good job of getting where we needed to be and those guys had two
00:30 good pit stops.
00:31 So just need to go to work.
00:33 And you know, hoping our car was good enough, which it was.
00:37 So just so proud of this team.
00:39 What an unbelievable year.
00:40 What an unbelievable playoffs for us.
00:42 To win back-to-back cup titles for Mr. Penske, that's so special.
00:46 And to have my family here winning my first cup title, I got emotional in the car.
00:50 I'm not a very emotional guy, but so cool.
00:52 Thank you guys for coming.
00:53 I hope it was an awesome show.
00:54 So, yeah, I mean, obviously appreciate Menard, Dutch boy, Ford, you know, worth, body armor,
01:04 Dex imaging, Knauf, everybody makes this possible.
01:09 John Menard is here.
01:10 So that's so cool to get him a championship and can't wait to celebrate with my guys.
01:15 >> We can hear all the emotion on the radio, Ryan.
01:17 What was going through your mind on those final few laps?
01:20 >> No yellow.
01:21 Didn't want to caution.
01:22 Once I got to the white, you know, felt pretty good about it.
01:27 Just about getting there and finishing it off.
01:28 So yeah, just didn't want to yellow.
01:30 Luckily everyone kept it straight.
01:32 We were going good.
01:33 But I want to shout out also Kyle and William.
01:38 That was fun racing those guys all day.
01:40 And the 20, unfortunately he broke.
01:43 But racing those two guys at the end there, racing clean, that's what racing is all about.
01:48 So that was a lot of fun.
01:50 >> Maybe early in the playoffs.
01:52 How improbable did this championship seem, Ryan?
01:55 >> You never want to cut yourself out.
01:59 I think in the summer, you know, we were struggling a little bit.
02:02 But we never gave up.
02:04 We just went to work.
02:05 I've said that all week.
02:08 This group goes to work and they figure out problems.
02:10 That's why they're such an amazing group to be with, the team pesky folks.
02:16 They just put their head down and do the work and accept the challenge.
02:20 That's what they did.
02:21 It's not happenstance we started running so good during the playoffs.
02:24 It was a lot of hard work by a lot of amazing men and women over at our race shop.
02:28 I can't thank them enough for that.
02:30 They deserve this as much as the guys who travel here, as much as me.
02:34 They're just a big part of it.
02:35 >> Let's give the drivers some credit as well.
02:37 He put the team on their shoulders, got up through the field.
02:41 Ryan Blaney is a NASCAR cup series champion.
02:44 (audience cheering)