"I'm not going to lay over": Ryan Blaney insists on self-first approach ahead of playoff hopeful Ford teammates

Ryan Blaney recently opened up on whether he'd help his Ford teammates get in the playoffs versus prioritizing his own race and a win. Blaney, whose win at Nashville earned him a playoff spot, is also in the hunt for the second spot in the regular season standings.

He's currently in fifth place heading into the Daytona. But his Ford teammates, namely the three RFK Racing drivers, are also in need of a playoff berth. Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece are 11th and 13th, respectively, while Brad Keselowski is in 19th spot.

It's also worth mentioning that Blaney's Penske teammates, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric, have both also earned their playoff berth.

Because of this scenario, he was asked ahead of Daytona whether he feels responsibility towards helping an RFK car versus looking out for his own interests.

"I guess that is how you define screw over. If I have the chance to go win, I'm going to go win the race. I'm not going to lay over. I know they're fellow Fords, whether it's Front Row or RFK, I'm not going to go lay over for them to win the race and get in when I have a shot to win the race. So, I'm going to race them hard like normal," Ryan Blaney answered. [10:40]

But he also mentioned that he would help his Ford teammates in situations "like normal" where it can be mutually beneficial.

Having said that, Ryan Blaney emphasized that if he has a shot to win, he'd take himself over the others because he's in it to do what's best for him.

Ryan Blaney speaks on his strengths at the first three venues in the playoffs

During his media availability session ahead of Daytona, Ryan Blaney was asked to share his thoughts on the playoff races at Darlington, Gateway, and Bristol. Blaney claimed none of those three tracks stand out to him, and he feels all of them play to the #12 team's strengths.

"The spring race at Darlington this year was great for us. Then I look at Gateway, has always been a great track for us as a group and as Team Penske I feel like we've won two out of three races there and I've won, run really well in the other one and I think just as a whole that place is good to us. Bristol I think we've been getting better at that place. I feel like last year was a little bit of a struggle for us, but I love how our car was there in the spring," Blaney described. [3:00]

He mentioned he's done a good job at all three tracks, which are next in the first round of the playoffs. However, Blaney admitted that one can't just "plug and play" based on the past.

The Penske driver claimed that one has to evolve as a race team. He mentioned that he likes where they're at, in terms of their strengths overall as a team.