In Ryan Blaney, NASCAR has a champion with the star potential it needs

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Being named a NASCAR champion gives a winning driver a unique platform, should he choose to use it.

Some do not have the personality to take advantage of increased media attention and opportunities. Others are not interested in going beyond their regular obligations.

But like a plane passenger in line for the emergency exit, Ryan Blaney is willing and able to help.

Blaney, the newly crowned Cup Series champion, has always been willing to do whatever he is asked to help promote NASCAR.

He was one of the first drivers to have a weekly podcast (“Glass Case of Emotion”), made extra trips to Los Angeles to do some acting in NASCAR (in TV series like “Magnum PI” and “Taken”) and appeared in countless TV talk shows and radio shows are outside the typical racing media.

But Blaney did it all while being a driver and had little to show for his professional accomplishments. Before this season, Blaney had seven career wins and only one year with multiple wins. NASCAR was marketing his youth and potential more than actual substance.

Last month changed all that. Blaney has shaken off a summer of struggles and slow cars to take advantage of a qualifying system that rewards teams for showing up at the right time. Now, after a 2-1-2 finish to end the season, Blaney is suddenly a NASCAR Cup Series champion for the first time.

This raises two questions: What kind of champion will Blaney be, and what can NASCAR do to market the suave racer?

We at least know the answer to the first part.

“I’m excited to have those opportunities. I’m really looking forward to going head-to-head with them,” Blaney said Sunday night. “If you get the honor of being a champion for your sport, it’s part of your job to promote your sport and do your best to be the best champion you can be.

“You now have this amazing platform where you’ve done something amazing (and you can) use it to promote the sport.”

Once again, Blaney was indeed eager to help in whatever way he could. Most recently, the 29-year-old was one of the main participants in Netflix’s upcoming docuseries, opening the doors to TV cameras to give the filmmakers “a lot of insider stuff.”

It’s easy to imagine how Blaney would be portrayed by this show: a driver who has been dogged by big mistakes in pressure-packed moments in the past, completely reversing that reputation in one playoff run while the cameras documented it all. He’s funny, kind, fan-friendly and has a deep racing heritage.

This certainly checks a lot of boxes in turning him into a star. But in order to capitalize on Blaney’s marketability, NASCAR will need to push him into the public eye beyond just a Netflix series. That begins Tuesday, when Blaney travels to New York for an initial round of media appearances.

Plans beyond that remain to be seen, but at least the potential is there. This is crucial for NASCAR, which has a star power problem that has been troubling as of late. Television ratings declined this fall, and the young group of Championship 4 drivers (Blaney, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and William Byron) largely did not resonate with fans of the mainstream sport.

This has created a broader discussion in the industry about how the current generation of drivers can begin to reach the level of fame achieved by past greats such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Tony Stewart.

“Our drivers are great,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said Friday. “They’re interesting. They’re heroes when they get into a race car. We need to expose them in a bigger way to both existing fans – nurturing that relationship with existing fans – and future fans.”

Blaney becoming a champion won’t change that overnight, but it certainly presents an opportunity for NASCAR.

(Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)