"We’ve always just done that": Ryan Blaney on rare NASCAR tradition he shares with Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace

There's a unique tradition Ryan Blaney often shares with fellow NASCAR Cup Series drivers Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott. In a recent interview, the driver of the #12 opened up about how if one of the three of them wins a race, the others go to victory lane to congratulate them.

The 2023 Cup Series champion recently sat down for an interview with the New York Times to answer a variety of questions. One of the questions asked was who he'd go to victory lane to personally congratulate on a win aside from his Team Penske teammates. Blaney explained how he always tries to go to victory lane if either Wallace or Elliott is the victor, and vice versa.

Blaney went on to explain how it's a "neat" tradition the three share. He said (via NY Times):

"I always go to victory lane if I’m still in the race for when Bubba (Wallace) or Chase (Elliott) wins. I always try to go there. And it’s vice versa for them, which is always neat. We’ve always just done that with each other."

Blaney went on to say that he often goes to victory lane to congratulate first-time winners, such as when Daniel Suarez won his career-first Cup race at Sonoma. There are other special occasions as well, Blaney explained, like when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the 2023 Daytona 500.

"But then if you go get your first Cup win, that’s kind of cool. I’ll go up there and congratulate you. Like when (Daniel) Suárez got his first one at Sonoma, I walked down there and congratulated him. And there’s been a few like Ricky (Stenhouse) when he won the (Daytona) 500, you go congratulate those guys," Ryan Blaney said.

Ryan Blaney has 503 points in the Cup Series so far. He is 40 points behind Chase Elliott, but 91 points ahead of Bubba Wallace. All of them have made 17 starts this season.

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Ryan Blaney reflected on his Pocono effort in social media post

Ryan Blaney wheeled his #12 Team Penske Ford to a third-place finish in last Sunday's race at Pocono. Following the top-five effort, Blaney expressed gratitude for his team's contributions in the race on his social media account.

Blaney reflected on the race via X, writing,

"Really proud of this 12-Team. We fought from the back through the field a couple of times, and never gave up. Was a good day."

Ryan Blaney currently sits sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings. The North Carolina native picked up a win this month at Nashville. He has seven top-five finishes with an average finish of 16.5.

Blaney is in his eighth full-time season with Team Penske. Prior to that, he raced for Wood Brothers Racing for two seasons. Blaney won his first Cup championship in 2023 with the Penske organization.