Ultimately, at the end of the day, Ryan Blaney said his role regarding pit crew changes at Team Penske is just to support and welcome those who put on the No. 12 uniform each week.
This is regarding the change made this week with the demotion of jack man Landon Honeycutt from the Blaney team to the Wood Brother No. 21 driven by Josh Berry. This follows a slow start by the Penske No. 12 pit crew, which has lost Blaney over 100 spots on pit road this season, mostly due to a byproduct team choreography and a young jack man.
Originally, the Penske 12 was going to promote Patrick Gray, but another change was made prior to the race weekend at Kansas Speedway, with veteran Graham Stoddard rejoining a team he has worked with in prior seasons.
Blaney, who has been supportive of Honeycutt this year amidst his development, also said he doesn’t interject himself in those executive level decisions.
“It’s not my role, right,” Blaney said during a media scrum on Saturday at Kansas Speedway. “Jonathan (Hassler, crew chief) and I talk, we talk to upper management, Travis (Geisler, competition director) and guys like that to figure out how we can all be better, collectively and as a group.
“My role, really, whoever is with us, is to make them feel part of the team, no matter who it is, you’re one of the 12 guys. That’s my main role. It’s not decision making and things of those regards. So all I can do is sit in on the meetings and see what they think and wherever it ends up, is welcome whoever joins the group and make them feel like part of the boys, that’s where my role ends.”
It’s easier for Blaney to welcome Stoddard, who he considers a friend, and as a longtime Penske over-the-wall athlete.
“Yeah, I’ve worked with Graham for a long time,” Blaney said. “He and I were on a team together for a while and he’s kind of bounced around our organization. He’s a great person. It was a lot of fun to work with him for a while and with him still in the building, get to see him on a day-to-day basis is fun, and I consider him a friend of mine. He’s a friend of mine and a championship caliber guy so we’re excited to have Graham with us and excited to see what he brings.”
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