NASCAR star's wife feels 'anxious' watching 'scary' NextGen cars
Ryan Blaney's wife, Gianna, has revealed her anxiety over NASCAR's NextGen car as the racing series competes in its third season since the changes.
Ryan Blaney's wife, Gianna, has revealed her true feelings about NASCAR's "scary" NextGen car, which leaves her feeling "nervous" while watching from the sidelines. NASCAR introduced its NextGen car in the 2022 season, but it has received several complaints over safety, including from top stars such as Denny Hamlin, who called for the vehicle to be built from the ground up.
NASCAR has mandated at least one change to the car in every full season since it was introduced to the racing after several flips and vicious wrecks. One of the most high-profile wrecks in the 2025 season came at the Daytona 500, which saw Ryan Preece's No. 60 go airborne following contact with Christopher Bell.
The 2023 Cup Series champion Blaney's wife, Gianna, with whom he tied the knot in Dec. last year, has now weighed in on NASCAR's NextGen car, claiming the racing competition isn't going anywhere with it. Gianna Blaney's comments came on fellow NASCAR wife Haley Dillon's podcast this week.
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She said: "I sit and have anxiety…You know how hard it is for them to win just one race. I can only imagine what he's thinking when he's close to winning a race. I'm over here freaking out. I know how hard it is, how competitive it is. Every race, I swear, as he gets better, I get more nervous every time.
"These new cars too, the Next-Gen cars. I think everyone is more nervous about these cars. Especially how a lot of the wrecks have looked, the flipping, especially last year...I don't think we're going anywhere great with that... it's scary. So my nerves are more for him to just be safe.
"But obviously, when they don't win, you have to be their support system. Like you just need to be proud of yourself and the day that you had. Like you've finished safely, that's more important at the end of the day. You're not like, injured, hurt, in an ambulance, a helicopter, or whatever."
However, Team Penske star Blaney has issued defenses of NASCAR's NextGen car in recent months. Blaney pointed to the 2025 races at Darlington and Texas as proof that the Next Gen car can deliver.
"I still feel like everyone is still getting comfortable," Blaney said. "There are always things you can learn, no matter what car it is for how long you've driven a certain race car, but I feel like my comfort level is pretty decent now.
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"You're still learning things every single week, but going to three very different tracks on the West Coast, you kind of understood what the cars liked, what they wanted, what they didn't want, what you could or couldn't do in them.
"So that was a big help having those three races out there at different tracks, and you're still learning on what changes do what and how much to change, and raceability of those things… They drive and they race really well, so that's been nice. You're never going to be fully comfortable, but you're just trying to get a little more comfortable than everybody else quicker."
