NASCAR star Ryan Blaney reveals Team Penske's simple-but-effective secret weapon

Success in the modern NASCAR era doesn't come easy, but Ryan Blaney and Team Penske know a thing or two about it.

Ahead of Sunday's race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Blaney has notched up 385 Cup Series races in his career so far, winning 18 of those and earning 98 and 173 top-fives and top-10s, respectively.

There was also the (not so) small matter of winning the Cup Series championship in 2023, beating Kyle Larson, William Byron and Christopher Bell to the title on that occasion.

But what is it that makes Blaney, and more widely, Team Penske, so successful? Ahead of Sunday's Food City 500, where he starts on pole, the driver of the No. 12 Ford issued his verdict on the matter.

Blaney reveals secret to Team Penske success

“I think our group, all of Team Penske, it’s hard for me to say, or if it’s easy for me to say, I feel like we are the best communicating team in the garage between all of our cars and the Wood Brothers car," Blaney explained to the media.

"I feel like the open notebook that our crew chiefs and engineers and drivers share with each other is better than others. I have no personal knowledge of the other teams and how they operate, but I just feel like we do a great job of that.

"Roger [Penske, team owner] wants every single car to be successful. We don’t focus on one or the other, so I think the communication side is what makes us really strong, just an open book and talking to everybody."

Blaney credits crew chief

On top of that, Blaney also credited his crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, with some of his and the team's success.

"And then just working with Jonathan," he continued. "He’s just an incredibly smart human being and is only getting better as a leader, as a crew chief, being gutsy and making calls.

"It’s been fun to grow with him and work with him. I think Jonathan is one of the best crew chiefs on the grid, and I think Team Penske’s communication is far and above where everyone else is at.”