Blaney received the All-Star Sprint Circuit Rookie of the Year award in 1983, the first step in a sprint car career that would place him among the top open-wheel dirt racers in America. He won the USAC Silver Crown Series national championship in 1984. His first World of Outlaws victory came at Eldora Speedway in 1987, and he won the 1993 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
The peak of Blaney's sprint car career came in the mid-1990s. In 1995 he won the prestigious King's Royal at Eldora Speedway, a $50,000-to-win event, and went on to claim the World of Outlaws Championship that season. In 1997 he won the Gold Cup and the Knoxville Nationals, widely regarded as the premier event in sprint car racing. When Blaney moved to NASCAR after 1997 he did not defend his Knoxville title, making him the first champion not to do so.
He kept his sprint car operation going after joining NASCAR, fielding a car for his brother Dale Blaney and the late Kevin Gobrecht. After retiring from NASCAR in 2013, Blaney returned to sprint car competition on a selective schedule. In May 2021 he won a World of Outlaws feature at his home track of Sharon Speedway at age 58, setting series records for both the longest gap between victories — 24 years since his 1997 win — and the oldest driver to win in World of Outlaws competition.
Blaney began his NASCAR Busch Series career in 1998 with Bill Davis Racing, driving the No. 93 Amoco Pontiac. He earned a pole position at Lowe's Motor Speedway and posted three sixth-place finishes. In 1999 he ran a full Busch Series schedule, won four poles, and finished a career-best seventh in points.
He moved to Winston Cup full-time with Bill Davis Racing in 2000, posting two top-ten finishes and finishing third in the Rookie of the Year standings. The team switched to Dodge in 2001, and Blaney's best finishes were sixth-place results on three occasions. After leaving Bill Davis Racing at the end of 2001 over sponsorship concerns, he joined Jasper Motorsports' No. 77 operation.
Blaney rotated through several organizations during the mid-2000s, including stints with Richard Childress Racing and a return to Bill Davis Racing. With BDR's No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge in 2006 he finished fourth at Richmond International Raceway, his best result in the season. He also scored his first Busch Series victory that year at Lowes Motor Speedway when Matt Kenseth spun on the final lap. In 2007, when Bill Davis Racing became the first team to field a Toyota in Cup competition, Blaney secured Toyota's first Cup Series pole position at Loudon.
After Bill Davis Racing shut down before the 2009 season, Blaney spent two years with start-and-park operations before joining Tommy Baldwin Racing for the 2011 season on a full-race commitment. He led 21 laps at the 2011 Aaron's 499 at Talladega before being spun out by Kurt Busch. In the fall of 2011 he finished third at Talladega, the best result in Tommy Baldwin Racing's history and one of the finest of Blaney's own Cup career. He returned to TBR through the 2013 season before moving into semi-retirement, having been credited as a foundational contributor to building TBR into a legitimate Cup-level organization.
Blaney's brother Dale Blaney is a career sprint car driver. His son Ryan Blaney followed him into racing, ultimately winning the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship with Team Penske. Dave Blaney supported Ryan's early career financially before Ryan's program became self-sustaining, one factor in Dave's decision to wind down full-time NASCAR competition.
Dave Blaney represents a generation of sprint car champions who successfully bridged dirt track racing and NASCAR's highest levels. His two World of Outlaws championships, Knoxville Nationals title, and King's Royal victories are the foundation of a career that spanned five decades of American open-wheel and stock car competition. His return to World of Outlaws victory in 2021 at age 58, a generation after his last Outlaw win, underscored his enduring connection to the sport where he first made his name. As the father of a NASCAR Cup champion, his influence on American racing extends beyond his own career results.