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After winning the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship, Ryan Blaney has his eyes on another trophy, the Indy 500.
During the NASCAR Champions Week in Nashville on Thursday, Team Penske owner Roger Penske revealed Blaney’ interest to compete in the Indy 500. It seems that the 2023 NASCAR champion has told his legendary boss Roger Penske that he would like a ride in the Indianapolis 500.
Ryan Blaney’s fellow driver and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson will try to qualify for the Indy 500 for the first time in May. He entered America's biggest open-wheel race with the partnership of Hendrick Motorsports and Arrow McLaren.
According to FOX journalist Bob Pockrass, Penske made it clear that they don’t have any plans for Ryan Blaney to give him an Indy 500 shot in the future.
“Blaney has mentioned about running the Indy 500, but Penske indicated there aren’t any plans for Blaney to do it. … He said IMS can see impact of Kyle Larson doing the 2024 Indy 500 when it comes to ticket sales for next May.”
Team Penske won his 19th Indy 500 in the iconic race with Josef Newgarden this year.
Ryan Blaney’s boss excited to see Kyle Larson at Indy 500
Kyle Larson's team owner Rick Hendrick once approached Roger Penske about running Larson in the Indy 500, but Penske could not figure it out as he had to improve his own three-car Indy 500 effort before taking on another driver.
However, Penske is excited and happy for Larson running at the Indy 500.
“We are so excited to see Larson come to the speedway. I know Rick (Hendrick) talked to me about running Larson, and we hadn’t had the success for a couple years. … and then, of course, McLaren did and we just applauded that all the way along, and I think that his skill and his fan base in the Midwest is amazing,” Penske said as quoted by motorsports.com.
“He went out there (to Indianapolis in October) and did his rookie test – bang, bang, bang. Kurt Busch has run there. I think that he comes with a tremendous amount of talent, and it’s something that he wants to do,” he added.
