Ryan Blaney addresses his 'Kevin Harvick-like' performances after Martinsville win
After Martinsville, Ryan Blaney shared his take on becoming a 'Kevin Harvick-like' driver in important situations. Blaney passed the HMS duo of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in the last 42 laps, took the lead, and won the race which put him in the Championship 4 for the second year in a row.
Following his win, a journalist remarked to the #12 driver that his performance was reminiscent of Kevin Harvick, who was nicknamed 'The Closer' owing to his crucial performances in key moments (via SpeedwayDigest):
"Your performance today is like a guy like Kevin Harvick, a closer. What is making you so clutch in these situations?"
Owing to the high stakes with which he entered Martinsville, and left the short track with a grandfather clock, Ryan Blaney was asked about his ability to deliver under pressure situations. Interestingly, Blaney won at Martinsville last year as well to book his Championship 4 spot.
In response, Blaney said:
"I feel like our group does a really good job, and I’ve worked really hard on this with Jonathan Hassler (crew chief) and my guys, of focusing on what I need at the end of these races. Like the last two runs of race, where is the track going, how do we get ahead of the track that’s going to change. Especially today, the sun started to go down, track changed pretty significantly. I just tried to look forward to the end of the race. We’ve done a really good job of preparing that, looking at past history, what’s worked for us in previous races through the year when the track does start to change."
Blaney further mentioned that when he was younger, he didn't do well in such situations as he would take it one lap at a time without focusing on the bigger picture of the race or the track.
But after working hard on that aspect of his craft over the last few years, he believed it had started paying off.
Ryan Blaney was left physically exhausted after his walk-off win at Martinsville
After putting in a solid drive that saw him enter a race with a must-win scenario, and finish it with a win, Ryan Blaney claimed he was 'beat up' physically. It's worth mentioning that Blaney addressed the importance of keeping fit for NASCAR races earlier this year. Talking about the physical toll on his body after a grueling race, Blaney said (via the aforementioned source):
"I don’t normally get worn out physically. I was beat up tonight. I mean, I was tired. My freaking shoulders hurt. My chest hurts for some reason. I don’t know why. My hand hurts from banging on the roof of that thing (smiling). Wasn’t a smart move," Blaney said.
Having said that, Ryan Blaney said that he tended to feel more mentally worn out than physically after certain races, but the Martinsville race had tired him out considerably.
Ascribing the exhaustion to the high speeds, sliding around, and shifting as many as four times in a lap, Blaney said that every race at Martinsville becomes more 'physically demanding'.