Ryan Blaney set to make 400th career NASCAR Cup Series start at Indianapolis

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Ryan Blaney will make his 400th career NASCAR Cup Series start this weekend during the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

After rising through their driver development program, Ryan Blaney made his first career Cup Series start at Kansas Speedway for Team Penske in May of 2014.

He would finish that spring race 27th and begun what would become a championship winning career so far.

From there, he started one more time at Talladega in 2014 before competing part-time for Team Penske once more in 2015 for 16 races.

After his partial season he would get the call-up to race the iconic Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford for two seasons from 2016 to 2017 where he would leave a lasting mark after capturing the organizations 99th win and his very first at Pocono Raceway in the summer of 2017.

In 2018, he returned to Team Penske to field their third full-time entry where he has resided ever since.

From 2018 to 2020 he showed steady improvement in the top series by achieving one win per season. In 2021 he broke out for three wins and his best career average start to date of a 9.6.

Unfortunately, broke his five-year winning streak in 2022. But he returned to his winning ways with multi-win campaigns every year since.

Currently, Blaney is in the midst of his 11th full-time Cup Series season and sits third in the regular season standings.

Through 399 start he has 19 career wins, an even 100 top five finishes, and over 5500 laps led.

Start 400

His 400th start comes during what could be his best season to date.

Blaney just broke his career longest top ten streak of eight and has two wins, the most recent of which came two race weekends ago at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta.

After his 11th-placed finish at North Wilkesboro, in his 399th start, he became the third driver to lock himself into the chase this season. With the berth, he now has qualified for the postseason in the previous ten of his 11 eligible seasons.

The weekend could turn into a million-dollar milestone as well. Ryan Blaney will face Todd Gilliland in the championship round of the In-Season Challenge as the favorite to convert.

So far, it’s a 1-0 advantage to Blaney. He outpaced Gilliland in the lone practice session in ninth to his 28th.

If his speed stays towards the top of the charts, he could kiss the bricks and join six other drivers to win in their 400th start.

Drivers to win in their 400th Cup Series start

• Lee Petty
• Richard Petty
• David Pearson
• Dave Marcis
• Dale Earnhardt
• Jimmie Johnson