Ryan Blaney, Wood Brothers bringing No. 21 back to prominence

The season is still young but so is Ryan Blaney.

One of the leaders of NASCAR's youth movement has been consistently fast to start the season and currently sits sixth in the points standings.

Mixing one of NASCAR's young stars with one of the most iconic teams and cars in the sport's history has turned out to be a perfect union.

After finishing second to start the season in the Daytona 500, Blaney had a shaky weekend at Atlanta where he finished 18th, before rebounding with a seventh-place finish at Las Vegas.

"I thought we were a little bit better than that," Blaney said after the race at Las Vegas. "Our car was good enough and once we got back inside the top 10 I felt that we had a shot at fourth or fifth but that last restart didn't go our way."

After a learning process for Blaney and his Wood Brothers Racing team last season, it's time to be a top-tier contender in 2017.

The alliance between Team Penske and the Wood Brothers, along with moving the shops closer to each other has clearly paid off in the early part of the season.

"I can't thank the Wood Brothers enough," Blaney said.

We're sure that feeling is mutual as the Wood Brothers enter their second full-time season since 2006 and are on-pace for one of their best seasons since the late 70s when David Pearson was behind the wheel.