{"id":17218,"date":"2023-11-07T09:00:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T14:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=17218"},"modified":"2023-11-06T23:20:51","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T04:20:51","slug":"nascar-cup-series-drivers-and-others-applaud-ryan-blaney-winning-2023-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/11\/07\/nascar-cup-series-drivers-and-others-applaud-ryan-blaney-winning-2023-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Cup Series: Drivers and others applaud Ryan Blaney winning 2023 Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Ryan Blaney&#8217;s championship brought congratulations from across NASCAR, IndyCar, and more. Here are some of the many tweets congratulating the Champion.<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Ryan Blaney<\/strong> is one of the most-liked drivers in the garage. He races his competitors cleanly, does not get in fights with other drivers, and carries himself well. Due to the level of respect he has for his competitors and teammates, his championship win brought a lot of congratulations across NASCAR, IndyCar, and beyond.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Everyone gets around the new champion, Ryan Blaney. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mv0kwlw8Hn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/mv0kwlw8Hn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Matthew (@HildenbrandMa) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HildenbrandMa\/status\/1721309913584894020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 5, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Blaney; A Popular Champion:<\/h3>\n<p>Blaney grew up with several of the current superstars of the Cup Series, specifically <strong>Chase Elliott<\/strong>, <strong>Bubba Wallace,\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>Daniel Hemric<\/strong>. Themselves and other drivers across motorsports took to social media to congratulate the 2023 Champion.<\/p>\n<h4>NASCAR:<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Bubba Wallace<\/strong> and Blaney&#8217;s careers began around the same time. Blaney&#8217;s first Cup Series win in 2017, was Wallace&#8217;s first career start. There are several videos of the two of them <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LETMhPg55Bo&amp;ab_channel=ZayMcLovin\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">goofing off<\/a>. Wallace posted a throwback photo of the two with some kind words for the new champion:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Brother. Champ. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2zZphuGIAi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/2zZphuGIAi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BubbaWallace\/status\/1721347777584615713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/03\/04\/nascar-chase-elliott-sidelined-by-injury\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>Chase Elliott<\/strong><\/a> and Blaney are close friends as well. Blaney was one of the first to congratulate Elliott on his 2020 championship. Chase came to Victory Lane for a photo with Blaney and his girlfriend:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">Congrats champ! \ud83d\udc4a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Blaney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Blaney<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/o140UjCnkj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/o140UjCnkj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chaseelliott\/status\/1721612245015343364?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel Hemric<\/strong>, another friend tweeted congratulations:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">YRB, Cup Champion!!!!!!!!!!!<\/p>\n<p>So proud of that dude <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Blaney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Blaney<\/a> !!<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NASCARPlayoffs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NASCARPlayoffs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Daniel Hemric (@DanielHemric) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DanielHemric\/status\/1721310188286747113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 5, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Brad Keselowski\u00a0<\/strong>has an eye for talent. Several current Cup Series drivers can trace the beginnings of their careers to Truck Series starts with Brad Keselowski Racing. Blaney won four races in the series, driving for Keselowski. The two would become teammates in 2018. Keselowski came to Victory Lane to congratulate his former driver and teammate:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A hearty congrats from BK to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Blaney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Blaney<\/a>, his former teammate at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Team_Penske?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Team_Penske<\/a>, and one of his former drivers at Brad Keselowski Racing. \ud83e\udd1d\ud83c\udfc6<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NASCAR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NASCAR<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/phoenixraceway?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@phoenixraceway<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LsVfI9fhZr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/LsVfI9fhZr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; RFK Racing (@RFKracing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RFKracing\/status\/1721317013778579636?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Retired NASCAR Drivers:<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Jeff Gordon<\/strong>, four-time champion and second on the all-time wins list and now Vice-Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports had two cars racing against Blaney for the title. While his drivers,\u00a0<strong>Kyle Larson\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>William Byron<\/strong> finished second and third in the championship hunt. Gordon took a moment to congratulate Blaney and give him some praise:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jeff Gordon: &quot;Just got beat, plain and simple&#8230; Just couldn\u2019t make enough adjustments to be better than Ryan Blaney and Penske. Congrats to them. What they did through the playoffs was pretty impressive and you\u2019ve got to give them credit. Ryan will be a great champion.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NASCAR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NASCAR<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yB2vb97N2P\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/yB2vb97N2P<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jeff Gordon Online (@JGinfo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JGinfo\/status\/1721537393990508840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/10\/21\/nascar-xfinity-series-can-dale-jr-win-at-homestead-miami-speedway\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>Dale Earnhardt Junior<\/strong><\/a>, Blaney&#8217;s neighbor and long-time friend congratulated him on his championship. Junior had picked Blaney in February as who he believed would be the 2023 Champion. Junior also reflected on\u00a0<strong>Kevin Harvick&#8217;s\u00a0<\/strong>retirement in his tweet as well:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This was an emotional day. Watching <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KevinHarvick?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@KevinHarvick<\/a> finish his career drives home just how far into this life I find myself. So many years and memories in the past. And <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Blaney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Blaney<\/a>, who I remember talking to on the grid of his first cup start. I brought the beer to the post race party\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DaleJr\/status\/1721322308726599738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kyle Petty<\/strong> famously called Blaney &#8220;The new\u00a0<strong>Kasey Kahne<\/strong>. Potential unfulfilled&#8221;. Petty took to Twitter to own up to his words and congratulate the Champion:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you for all your kind tweets! It\u2019s always amazing how many of you guys have never been wrong about anything! Congratulations to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Blaney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Blaney<\/a> on an Amazing drive the last two weeks.. Championship earned!<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kyle Petty (@kylepetty) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kylepetty\/status\/1721311292927987961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 5, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>IndyCar Congratulates Blaney:<\/h4>\n<p>Indy Car driver and Team Penske teammate\u00a0<strong>Scott McLaughlin\u00a0<\/strong>was at the race. He told Davey Segal from NASCAR Radio that the second <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/11\/01\/is-ryan-blaney-the-favorite-to-win-the-cup-series-championship\/\" target=\"_self\">Blaney won Martinsville<\/a>, they were coming. Team Penske posted this update from Victory Lane:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There\u2019s no party like a championship party.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/smclaughlin93?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@smclaughlin93<\/a> is live on the scene. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CuwmBLPG6P\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/CuwmBLPG6P<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Team Penske (@Team_Penske) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Team_Penske\/status\/1721329909610742205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Another Team Penske teammate and the reigning Indy 500 Champ,<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/07\/23\/indycar-newgarden-sweeps-iowa-double-header\/\" target=\"_self\">\u00a0<\/a><strong>Josef Newgarden\u00a0<\/strong>made a not-so-smart bet with Blaney. He wagered a tattoo of Ryan Blaney on his thigh if he won the championship. Looks like Newgarden will be getting a tattoo soon:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Oh no. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LwwNqBDOYQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/LwwNqBDOYQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/josefnewgarden\/status\/1721602426229129240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Other celebrities and influencers:<\/h4>\n<p>Cole Swindell, award-winning country musician, and NASCAR fan took to Twitter to celebrate Blaney&#8217;s championship:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">You can call him CRB from now on! Champion Ryan Blaney \ud83c\udfc6 Congrats <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Blaney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Blaney<\/a> on a helluva year. So deserving brother! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NASCAR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Cole Swindell (@coleswindell) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/coleswindell\/status\/1721310200047567325?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 5, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>NASCARcasm, the official meme maker\/troll for NASCAR, gave Blaney a shoutout directed at Star Wars. Blaney, in his Twitter bio, calls himself an &#8216;aspiring Jedi&#8217; and is a huge Star Wars fan. From the red carpet for the &#8216;Last Jedi&#8217; premiere to a Star Wars tattoo, it is safe to say he is the biggest Star Wars fan in the garage. Here is the shoutout he gave Blaney:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/starwars?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@starwars<\/a> Thought you&#39;d want to know that Ryan Blaney won the 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series Championship on Sunday and he is NASCAR&#39;s first Jedi champion in the sport&#39;s 75-year history. He is the one that will restore balance to The Force. Total Obi-Wan beard also. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MPIyiSze3H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/MPIyiSze3H<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nascarcasm\/status\/1721708476819513803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 7, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>More praise is surely on the way for Ryan Blaney. The NASCAR community will continue to honor the 2023 Champion.<\/h3>\n<h3><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ryan Blaney&#8217;s championship brought congratulations from across NASCAR, IndyCar, and more. Here are some of the many tweets congratulating the Champion. Ryan Blaney is one of the most-liked drivers in the garage. He races his competitors cleanly, does not get in fights with other drivers, and carries himself well. Due to the level of respect [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4347,"featured_media":17221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1664],"tags":[827,61,52,108,440,775,237,168],"class_list":["post-17218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-nascar-cup-series","tag-bubba-wallace","tag-chase-elliott","tag-dale-earnhardt-jr","tag-jeff-gordon","tag-josef-newgarden","tag-ryan-blaney","tag-scott-mclaughlin","tag-team-penske"],"modified_by":"Hayden Murdock","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4347"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}