With its never-ending quest to bring the next generation of fans to the sport, NASCAR has tried a number of things, from its daffy Chase format to stage racing, its race within the race.
Stage racing, though, hasn’t yet caught the fancy of the literary crowd that always is looking for the play within the play.
Or, as Puck said in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “what fools these mortals be.”
Give NASCAR credit for trying, though.
Here’s a better idea. Give fans more Ryan Blaney, on and off the track. Let Blaney be Blaney, something NASCAR seems to be happy to do so far in his young career.
The 24-year-old, third-generation driver has plenty to offer. On the track for Team Penske in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, he has the potential to be a consistent winner, maybe even a champion one day.
He has the personality of a young Jeff Gordon, with a little Dale Earnhardt Jr. thrown in.
There isn’t going to be another Gordon or Earnhardt Jr.
But there is a first Ryan Blaney, and he has a chance to be a unique NASCAR personality. He could be a combination of Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer.
Most of all, though, Blaney is going to be himself, and that’s not bad.
Last year, in his second full season on the Cup circuit, he won at Pocono, finished ninth in the standings and made the playoffs.
This season, he has three top-five and five top-10 finishes and has been no worse than 16th in every race except one, last week at Bristol. He was taken out of that race when he got caught in lapped traffic while he was leading.
“We had a fast car,” Blaney said. “We led a bunch of laps. It would have been nice to see what would have happened.
“When you get taken out with a good car, it gets you down, but you have to learn from the positives.”
Neither Gordon nor Johnson could have said it better.
Blaney’s father, Dave, was a Cup driver. His grandfather, Lon, was a dirt track and sprint car legend. Ryan Blaney has been around one racetrack or another almost his entire life.
“I really didn’t have a desire to do anything else,” Blaney said.
But a young man does not have to be just one thing. Blaney has an easygoing personality. There are times when he will speak his mind.
And then, there is “The Glass Case of Emotion” podcast, where Blaney probably is the closest version of himself. Every Tuesday, he goes into a studio at Motor Racing Network with co-hosts Kim Coon, a former Miss Sprint Cup and now a reporter and announcer for MRN, and Chuck Bush, an employee of NASCAR.com.
They spend about 15 minutes discussing topics for the show and then set sail.
The hourlong podcast, which also can be seen on NASCAR’s YouTube channel, is irreverent, funny, sarcastic, insightful and covers a wide range of topics, most of them not racing related and sometimes not intended for younger audiences. It carries a parental warning to that effect.
“Dale Jr. kept hounding me, ‘You’ve got to get a podcast, you’ve got to get a podcast,’ ” Blaney said.
Blaney got a podcast. NASCAR has been supportive. The first year, the show took place at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. It enjoyed some popularity, if you consider a million downloads in 2017 success, and you should.
Year 2 is going strong as well.
“There are so many shows that cover racing,” Blaney said of the radio and podcast landscape. “We talk about racing a good bit, but a lot of content is not racing. Two-thirds of the show is random topics. Things that are going on around the world. We make notes, do research and riff for 10 minutes or so on each topic. But I said from the beginning there are two things I’ll never talk about: religion and politics.”
Drivers are guests, sometimes in person and sometimes if they answer the phone. On a recent show, Blaney, Koon and Bush decided on the spur of the moment to call Bowyer on Tuesday after he had won Martinsville on Sunday.
Bowyer can be one of NASCAR’s most entertaining drivers. The potential for humor was high. Bowyer’s phone went to voicemail, which was full.
“We never got him,” Blaney said.
Pity that.
“More fans each week tell me they like the show, that they didn’t know who I was, didn’t know I was a race car driver, but they’ve started watching racing,” Blaney said. “I think this is a way to bring new fans to the sport. I don’t think it’s hurting [racing] or that it was the mission to do that. And I’ve had all age ranges of people tell me they listen. There are moms and dads that love it, teenagers who listen each week.
“I don’t have much to do on Tuesdays. I enjoy doing it.”
Or, as Puck would put it, “Give me your hands, if we be friends.”
Ryan Blaney seems destined to have many friends in and out of racing in his NASCAR career.