Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, driver of the No.12 Menards/Atlas Designer Shingles Ford Mustang, says that Team Penske has a unique opportunity this weekend in that they can sweep the Indianapolis Motor Speedway following Josef Newgarden’s Indianapolis 500 victory here in May.
Blaney, who has yet to win the Brickyard 400, goes into the race on Sunday with momentum, having taken victory last time out in Pocono. Speaking following Friday’s practice, Blaney, who is currently seventh in points, commented saying:
Kissing the bricks, that’s just what everyone wants to do. … to be able to do that with RP (Penske), that would be like the coolest moment in my life.
“We know how special this place is, it’s not even talked about in our camp. “You just know what it means. It’s meant the world even since I got there in 2012 before he [Penske] owned the race track.
“We have a unique opportunity to sweep Indy this year with Josef winning the 500 and us coming here and having a good shot on the NASCAR side, so there’s a cool opportunity to do something special. That’s what you want to do for our team, you want to make memories and do well by his race team and do well by him. Big weekend and a lot of pressure on us, but this race team likes pressure.”