The 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season will begin with Ryan Blaney joining the FOX Sports booth at Daytona. This continues a trend from recent seasons, and it provides the Team Penske driver with an opportunity to get a “neat perspective.”
As Blaney explained prior to the Busch Light Clash at the LA Memorial Coliseum, he doesn’t want to be in the booth every single week. A “handful” of events is good enough for him. However, he continues to make appearances so that he can provide important information to the fans.
“I’m doing a handful of races for [FOX] this year,” Blaney told Heavy. “It’s something I have been doing more and more, whether it’s the booth or the [NASCAR Race Hub] and I really just enjoy the booth. I mean, it gives you a neat perspective on the race. It’s different watching up there than watching from the bus or anywhere else, and I feel like the more current driver insight you can give to the fan watching at home is great.
“The people they have working up in the booth are really talented, who work up there week to week, but I think if you can get some drivers in there like they have been doing, whether it’s FOX or NBC, it’s just really good.
“You can kind of say, ‘Hey, I felt this today in practice today and maybe look for this and this in the race.’ Or can explain a situation maybe a little bit more just because you’re more experienced on that side. It’s something I really enjoy doing.”
Blaney’s Appearances in 2022 Featured Unique Situations
There were multiple races that featured Blaney in the booth during the 2022 Xfinity Series season. He provided commentary as the top drivers contended for wins, and he also dealt with some unique situations.
For example, the spring trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway came to an early stop due to snow and sleet. Blaney, Adam Alexander, and Joey Logano had to spend time discussing the weather instead of the battles between Ty Gibbs, Ryan Sieg, and the other drivers.
The unique situation with the snow was not the only time that Blaney dealt with inclement weather. There were other tracks where rain fell and disrupted the flow of the race weekend. Blaney hopes this will not be the case in 2023 as he helps call more races.
“I was on a streak there for a while where it was raining or snowing in weird places,” Blaney said. “It snowed in Vegas. It rained in Phoenix and it was whenever I was in the booth, so I didn’t know what was going on, but the delays do stink. You make the best of it, but hopefully, we’re over that hump.”
Blaney Will Make Multiple Appearances for FOX Sports
The veteran Team Penske driver will kick off his broadcast schedule with the Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. 300 at Daytona International Speedway. Though it will not be the only race he helps call.
The 2022 season saw Blaney joining the booth for multiple events. He helped call the entire West Coast swing, and he returned to the booth for the annual Drivers Only broadcast at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
As Blaney and FOX Sports both confirmed, he will take part in multiple broadcasts during the 2023 season. The exact details will be provided at a later date as each event approaches. For now, however, he will focus on the Xfinity Series season-opening race.
