“I enjoy the challenge of it”: Ryan Blaney breaks down the reality of racing on the ‘toughest’ road course amid its uncertain future

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney recently competed in the Challenge Three, Grant Park 165, at the Chicago Street Course on July 6, 2025. Following his decent mid-pack finish at the 75-lap race, Blaney opened up about how he thrives in the challenges faced at the "toughest" road course in NASCAR.

The #12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse driver qualified in the middle of the pack among the top 20 drivers. He began the race from P17 with a best time of 90.89 seconds and a top speed of 87.14 mph. Blaney was 1.23 seconds behind the pole sitter, New Zealand-based driver Shane van Gisbergen, with a top speed of 88.34 miles per hour and a best lap time of 89.66 seconds.

Reflecting upon his recent run at the Chicago Street Course, Ryan Blaney claimed it as the "toughest" NASCAR road course. He further shared his experience of the track with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 (via X).

"I enjoy it. I enjoy the challenge of it. I mean, it's tough. I think, I think Chicago is the toughest road course we go to, just because, you know, it's people always ask me, like, what's challenging about I'm like, well, just, you know, the roads are rough. Everything's super rough, trying to figure out the bumps, and it's so narrow, like there's nowhere to bail. Like, if you kind of get in the corner too hot, smoke it in there, and you get bouncing real hard on your blocks or something, or on the shock limiters. Like, there's no gravel trap or grass to run off to," Blaney explained. [00:00 onwards]

"There's little runoffs. Like, you hope you can get slowed down, like, into four if you bail early enough, and there's a couple others, but there's just no room for error, like, and you have to run that place so technically correct, like, very precise, and trying to carry speed, and these tight little sections, you know. So it's, like, really mentally challenging for me," he concluded.

The Chicago Street Course completed the final race according to the contract with NASCAR. Additionally, there is no updated information regarding the venue for the Grant 165 race next year. Additionally, Ryan Blaney secured a P12 finish at the 75-lap race at the track.

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"We crush the parade every week": Ryan Blaney on journalist Jeff Gluck's take on NASCAR viewership

Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney recently defended stock car racing viewership after Jeff Gluck criticized the governing body for the 1.6 million viewers for the EchoPark Speedway race.

Gluck claimed the number to be underwhelming; however, the #12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse driver had a different approach. He compared the viewership with Formula One's Austrian Grand Prix and pointed out that NASCAR had a 500,000 higher audience enjoying the weekend. He claimed that F1 had only 1.1 million viewers in the United States of America.

""So, we got 500k more folks tuned in. Why do people make it out to be a bad thing? We crush the parade every week, so why do we get down in the dumps by this? Nascar is currently crushing it," stated the Hartford, Ohio, native.

Ryan Blaney ranks inside the top ten drivers on the Cup Series points table. With 539 points to his credit, he secured the seventh place on the standings with one win at Nashville Superspeedway. Additionally, he has eight top-ten finishes and seven top-five finishes in 19 starts this season.