NASCAR champion hails WWE Hall of Famer in playoff motivation

If NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney was a wrestler, he would be lying on the canvas right now, waiting for the end to come. But he wouldn’t just be any normal wrestler.

Instead, the 31-year-old Team Penske star will channel the words of the unique Hall of Fame talent that was Randy Savage as he bids to make an astonishing Cup Series playoff comeback.

Blaney began the Round of 8 in disastrous circumstances in Las Vegas last Sunday, having his race wrecked by a tire issue which saw him classified as 37th and last in the South Point 400.

The man from Hartford Township in Ohio, who won it all in 2023, will start this Sunday’s YellaWood 500 in Talladega some 31 points below the cutline. It’s a mountain he has to climb, but he will channel the words of the late, great Savage when he begins the ascent.

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Blaney will channel 'Macho Man' vibes

He told NBC: “Unjustifiably in a position I’d rather not be in, but the cream will rise to the top.

“That is what we can use for this weekend. I thought that was a perfect comparison to my situation. Thank you Mr. Savage.”

Blaney went into more detail about his love and admiration for ‘Macho Man’ claiming: “I don’t think there is a person before or after him that could cut promos quite like that guy. If I’m sitting at home and I’m bored - and maybe I’ve had a couple of drinks - I will go watch Randy Savage interviews just because I think it was amazing what was going through that man’s head.”

Boom or bust for Team Penske superstar

Blaney has three wins at Talladega in the past, but also some awful days as well. It’s been boom or bust, similar to his entire Cup Series 2025 season. It leaves him perfectly placed to deal with the ups and downs heading deeper into the postseason.

“I look at our team on the 12 car and I’ve been really, really happy with how we’ve been going about things, how we’ve been able to bounce back from bad weeks and just go do our job the next weekend and not really let it change our outlook on things and go to the racetrack confident every single week,” he said.

“I told myself like, ‘Hey, you can be upset with the Vegas deal Sunday, but when you wake up Monday, we’re gonna be full-on looking forward and heads-up looking forward to Talladega and then what challenges come at Martinsville.’

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