NASCAR star Ryan Blaney reveals Team Penske secret

Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney has revealed that Team Penske gave him a secret surprise ahead of the action at Darlington this weekend.

The Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway is hosting NASCAR's annual throwback weekend once again this year and Blaney is one of the drivers running a retro-inspired paint scheme.

Blaney's No. 12 Team Penske Ford is donning a blue and yellow livery that pays tribute to Blaney's father, former Cup Series driver Dave Blaney, and his Xfinity Series win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2006.

Blaney has revealed he had nothing to do with it, however, admitting it was all his team's idea and that they kept it a secret.

"I didn’t really know we were doing that,” Blaney explained. “That was kind of a Penske surprise to me, so I thought that was pretty neat.

“Just neat that I can have the option to do that. And it meant a lot to my dad, a surprise to him.

"I remember that race. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there, but I was watching it on TV, and a couple of guys are still walking around the garage. They were part of that team. Trent Owens was the crew chief on that thing. He’s still around. So it means a lot. It’s cool when you can throw back to your family.”

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Ryan Blaney on NASCAR throwback weekend

Throwback weekend has come in for some criticism from some drivers at Darlington this week, with some, such as Chase Elliott, claiming it has lost its luster.

Blaney disagrees, however, and is firmly in the camp of throwback weekend being a positive thing.

“I love it. I absolutely love it,” Blaney said. “I love to see what people come up with.

"Every year, there’s so many neat schemes from drivers or teams that have inspired a lot of people to be in the garage today that get to throw it back. And I love just walking through the garage. I really wish we wouldn’t announce it on X, I wish you just show up with it and then people see it in the garage for the first time, because that’d be a huge, neat reveal-type situation.

“But you walk around the garage like, ‘Man, I remember that car as a kid,’ or ‘I’ve seen videos from that car from the ’70s or ’80s.’ That’s just really, really neat. So it still is very special, and the teams love doing it, and I hope the fans still enjoy it. I know they do.”

READ MORE: NASCAR Race Today: Darlington start times, schedule and how to watch live on TV

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