Ryan Blaney is a third-generation racecar driver, the son of former NASCAR Cup Series driver Dave Blaney and the grandson of modified dirt track racer Lou Blaney. He began his racing career in quarter midgets, winning his first race at the age of nine. He also competed successfully in Bandolero cars and late model racing. In 2009, at fifteen years old, Blaney competed in the Pro All Star Series late model division, finishing second in the final points standings and earning Rookie of the Year honors.
Blaney began his NASCAR career in 2011-2012, driving in select races in both the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series for Tommy Baldwin Racing and Penske Racing. In 2013, he ran a full-time schedule in the Truck Series for Brad Keselowski Racing, finishing sixth in points and winning the Rookie of the Year Award. The following year, Blaney finished second in the Truck Series point standings, narrowly losing the title to Matt Crafton by twenty points. He made his Cup Series debut in 2014, driving select races for Penske.
In 2015, Blaney signed with Wood Brothers Racing, driving a limited schedule in the famed No. 21 car, and remained with the team for two additional years, driving his first full-time Cup Series schedule from 2016–2017. He captured his first career Cup Series win at Pocono Raceway in 2017, finishing ninth in the final point standings.
In 2018, Blaney joined Team Penske full-time, driving the No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Since joining Penske, he has consistently finished within the top-ten in the final championship standings. He won the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship, and nearly repeated the following year in 2024, finishing second in the final point standings to teammate Joey Logano.
During the 2020 Daytona 500, Blaney gave a push to Ryan Newman on the final lap, resulting in Newman’s violent crash. Blaney later stated the incident took a toll on him mentally, and speaking with Newman after his release from the hospital was key to his recovery. In 2023, Blaney was involved in a late-race crash at Atlanta, where he was leading, but recovered to win the championship.
Blaney has also competed in other racing series. In 2017, he voiced the character Ryan "Inside" Laney in the Pixar film Cars 3 and made a cameo appearance in the film Logan Lucky. He has also appeared in television shows such as Taken and Magnum P.I. and video games such as NASCAR 21: Ignition and NASCAR 25.
Blaney was a featured driver in the 2022 USA Network series Race for the Championship and the 2024 Netflix documentary series NASCAR: Full Speed. He won the 2010 CRA Southern Six Pack Series championship and the 2011 PASS South Super Late Model Series championship.
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