Ryan Blaney shares first message after winning NASCAR Cup Series Championship

Ryan Blaney took to X Tuesday to share his first public message since winning the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship this past Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.

What an unbelievable season and playoff run for this 12 team. Working hard through the summer to get to where we needed to be and everyone @team_penske should be proud of themselves. So happy for RP and @ford on back to back championships. Thank you to all our great partners! pic.twitter.com/f2hosyOzkA

— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) November 7, 2023

“What an unbelievable season and playoff run for this 12 team,” Blaney wrote. “Working hard through the summer to get to where we needed to be and everyone @team_penske should be proud of themselves. So happy for RP and @ford on back to back championships. Thank you to all our great partners!”

Blaney earned his first Cup Series championship after finishing second in the season finale, just behind race winner Ross Chastain and in front of fellow championship contenders William Byron, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell.

“You never want to count yourself out,” Blaney said after the race. “I mean, I think in the summer we were struggling a little bit. But we never gave up. We just went to work. I’ve said that all week, like, this group goes to work and they figure out problems. That’s why they’re such an amazing group to be with, with the Team Penske folks, ’cause they just put their head down and do the work, accept the challenge.

“That’s what we did. It’s not happenstance we started running good through the playoffs. It was a lot of hard work by a lot of amazing men and women at the shop. I can’t thank them enough for that.”

Team Penske goes back-to-back with Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney

Team Penske now has captured back-to-back championships in the Cup Series for the first time after Joey Logano won his second-career title last season. Blaney was at his best in the final six races of the season, notching two wins, a top-10 and two runner-up finishes.

“He really matured over the last say, two months. He learned how to win. Win fairly and squarely. That racing today was outstanding,” car owner Roger Penske said after the race. “To think about, Kyle Larson came up here, gave him a big thanks. His great buddy [Chase] Elliott did too. But I think being a champion like he is, when he walks in somewhere, he’s going to get the accolades.

“And again, I think in the garage area, his stock is at the highest among these drivers. That’s more important than anything.”