Blind’s Porsche Single-Make Dominance ‘Difficult to Duplicate’

Scott Blind said it would be “difficult to duplicate” his dominant Porsche single-make success this season across a number of championships as he seeks to add more drivers’ titles to his collection this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Blind has the opportunity to cap off an unprecedented season of success this weekend, having already won five of the possible six championships he was eligible for in Porsche Sprint Challenge and Endurance competition as he sits on the cusp of clinching both the Master class drivers’ title and securing the ANDIAL Cup in Carrera Cup North America competition.

The Ruckus Racing team owner/driver recently secured both the Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West 992 GT3 Cup Masters and overall drivers’ titles, the Sprint Challenge North America 992 GT3 Cup Masters title, as well as the Porsche Endurance Challenge North America 992 GT3 Cup Am class and overall drivers’ championships with co-driver Alan Metni.

Ahead of this weekend’s pair of rounds at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Blind holds a 73-point lead over Todd Parriot in the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car and is a further 64 points clear of Peter Atwater.

Notably, neither of Blind’s class championship rivals is present this weekend at The Brickyard, meaning he has the potential to wrap up both titles before the final two rounds of the season at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and Circuit of The Americas.

His Carrera Cup campaign this year has produced seven class wins this year, including a pair of weekend sweeps at Sebring International Raceway and at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal.

“It feels amazing,” Blind told Sportscar365. “I always give a lot of credit to the guys. They do an amazing job.

“I think maybe the most incredible stat is that we’ve only not been on the podium one time this year, and that was when we were involved in that Watkins Glen Turn 1 incident when we were knocked out of the race.

“Other than that, I think we’ve got like 35 podiums, 25 of which are in first place. It’s been an amazing year. It would be very hard to duplicate this one.”

When asked about the keys to his success this year, Blind gave credit to his crew, led by Mike Johnson, who work on both his Carrera Cup entry and Sprint and Endurance Challenge programs.

“The same group runs both cars,” he explained. “We’ve got four cars that we keep tuned up at all times. They work on all the cars.

“Even during the quick turnarounds, they’re excellent at getting the cars ready, staying on top of the parts. We’re always ready.

“We set out to do it as right as we possibly could. We got the right crew. We tested. We’re focused. We have full-time people. We are dedicated to the program, and it has paid off.

“The guys that work on the car day in and day out do such a phenomenal job.”

Behind the wheel, Blind felt that focusing on a single car platform for all of his programs has paid dividends on track, given the 911 GT3 Cup car is the same across all of Porsche’s single-make series.

“It all being in the same car for me is great,” said Blind. “The good thing about Sprint Challenge is that there’s a lot of seat time over there. We also do five, six, seven different testing sessions with David Murray [Track Days] or Apex [track days].

“Prior years, I’ve run GT4 and a Cup Car and honestly, the transition back and forth wasn’t so easy for me.

“We did OK, but now focusing on the one platform in multiple series with a lot of track time, lot of seat time, it’s really paying off, and I really feel at home in this car.

“People will tell you they can be a handful, these 992 Cup Cars, but I feel really at home and I can flip it around and I’m very comfortable in the car now.

“I like the rawness of this car and one thing I will say is that when you can drive a Cup Car, you can drive.

“That’s what I’ve focused on is being able to drive this car well, and if I can do that as I move forward into the GT3s, it’s a really good platform to get me ready for those things.

“You’ve got to be on top of the car. You’ve got to wrangle that baby out there, and once you can do it, it really sets the stage for anything else in the future.”