Ryan Blaney

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Ryan Blaney
Ryan Blaney Road America 2015.jpg
Blaney at Road America in 2015
Born Ryan Michael Blaney
(1993-12-31) December 31, 1993 (age 30)
Hartford Township, Trumbull County, Ohio
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg)
Achievements 2010 CRA Southern Six-Pack Champion
2011 PASS Champion
2018 Can-Am Duel Winner
Awards 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year
2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver
NASCAR Cup Series career
90 races run over 4 years
Car no., team No. 12 (Team Penske)
2017 position 9th
Best finish 9th (2017)
First race 2014 5-hour Energy 400 (Kansas)
Last race 2017 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead)
First win 2017 Axalta presents the Pocono 400 (Pocono)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 25 2
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
64 races run over 6 years
Car no., team No. 22/12 (Team Penske)
2017 position 89th
Best finish 22nd (2015)
First race 2012 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (Richmond)
Last race 2017 Ticket Galaxy 200 (Phoenix)
First win 2013 Kentucky 300 (Kentucky)
Last win 2017 Drive Sober 200 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles
6 51 1
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
58 races run over 4 years
2015 position 81st
Best finish 2nd (2014)
First race 2012 UNOH 200 (Bristol)
Last race 2015 WinStar World Casino & Resort 350 (Texas)
First win 2012 American Ethanol 200 (Iowa)
Last win 2015 UNOH 200 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles
4 40 5
Statistics current as of November 19, 2017.

Ryan Michael Blaney (born December 31, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently drives the No. 12 Ford Fusion for Team Penske in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He also drives the No. 22 and the No. 12 Ford Mustangs for Team Penske in the Xfinity Series on a part-time basis. He is the son of NASCAR driver Dave Blaney and the grandson of Modified dirt track legend Lou Blaney.

Racing career

Early career

Blaney's 2011 ARCA car at IRP

A third-generation racer and son of then-Cup Series driver Dave Blaney,[1] Blaney started his racing career in quarter midget racing, winning his first race at age 9;[2][3] he also competed, and won, in Bandolero cars at a young age.[4] Moving up to Legends cars at age 12, Blaney won the Lowe's Motor Speedway Young Lion's Winter Heat Point Championship, as well as in three divisions of the Carolina Fall Nationals in quarter midgets.[2]

At age 14, Blaney debuted in late model racing at Orange County Speedway, while in 2009, at age 15, he began competing in the Pro All Stars Series (PASS)-sanctioned South Super Late Model Series, finishing second in points and winning the series' Rookie of the Year award; he finished third in the PASS national points as well. In addition, he won the Eastern Grand Nationals quarter midget event in Huntsville, Alabama.[2]

Blaney's 2011 PASS car at North Wilkesboro

Continuing to compete in the PASS South Super Late Model Series in 2010, Blaney scored his first career win in the series at Dillon Motor Speedway, adding wins at Greenville-Pickens Speedway and Newport Speedway on his way to a second consecutive second-place finish in the PASS South championship standings.[2] Blaney also competed in the Champion Racing Association (CRA)-sanctioned Southern Six Pack series, winning the series championship for 2010.[3] Returning to the PASS South Super Late Model Series in 2011, Blaney won two races in the series, at Dillon Motor Speedway and Ace Speedway, winning the series championship.[2][5] He also made his debuts in the ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and East in 2011, scoring top ten finishes in every start in the three series;[5] he won his first career NASCAR race in the K&N Pro Series West season finale at Phoenix International Raceway winning by over two seconds in his only series start.[6]

For 2012, Blaney, who had won praise from Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick for his driving skills,[7] returned to the K&N Pro Series East, running six races for family-owned DB Racing, driving the No. 10,[8] as well as to the PASS Super Late Model Series in the Carswell Motorsports No. 98.[9]

NASCAR

In addition, he signed with Tommy Baldwin Racing to compete in six NASCAR Nationwide Series races, driving the No. 36 SealWrap-sponsored Chevrolet,[1][10] starting at Richmond International Raceway in April.[4] Blaney qualified in the Top 10 in his debut at Richmond International Raceway, and finished seventh in the race.[11]

In July 2012, Blaney announced that he had signed a contract to drive for Penske Racing a minimum of three races in the 2012 Nationwide Series season, starting at Iowa Speedway in August.[12] He also ran selected races in the Camping World Truck Series for Brad Keselowski Racing,[13] finishing sixth in his debut in the series at Bristol Motor Speedway.[14] Blaney won his first career Truck Series race on September 15, 2012, at Iowa Speedway; at the time, he was the youngest winner in Truck Series history at 18 years, eight months, and 15 days. The previous record was 20 years and 18 days set by Kyle Busch in 2005.[15][N 1]

Blaney's 2013 truck at Rockingham

Blaney returned to the Camping World Truck Series in 2013, driving the full schedule for Brad Keselowski Racing and competing for the series' Rookie of the Year award.[17] Blaney won his first career pole in the series at Kentucky Speedway in June,[18] then won his second career Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway in August.[19] Blaney also competed in the Nationwide Series at Iowa Speedway in June, substituting for Joey Logano after a rainout created a schedule conflict; Blaney finished ninth in the event.[20] Blaney competed in a second Nationwide Series race in 2013, at Kentucky Speedway on September 21, and led 96 of the race's 200 laps to win his first career race in the series, beating Austin Dillon and Matt Crafton.[21] Blaney was the only race winner in the 2013 Nationwide season to not have any Sprint Cup experience.[22]

In January 2014, Blaney announced that in addition to a full Camping World Truck Series schedule with BKR, he would be running 15 Nationwide Series and two Sprint Cup Series races for Team Penske during the year.[23] He made his debut at Kansas Speedway, finishing 27th. In August, it was announced that Blaney would be running in the Nationwide Series for Penske in 2015, and would also run twenty Sprint Cup Series races for Wood Brothers Racing in the No. 21 Ford during the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.[24]

Blaney drove the No. 29 truck full-time for Brad Keselowski Racing. He had many Top 10 but failed to win in the spring. However his year's turning point was at Dover in late May 2014, when he came up short to Kyle Busch who beat him by 0.5 (one car length) seconds for the win. After the race Blaney was one of the drivers who said that because Kyle was winning a lot in the truck series, that the Cup series drivers should no longer race in any division besides the Cup series.

Blaney's 2015 Xfinity car at Road America

Blaney won his second career Nationwide race in August 2014 at Bristol Motor Speedway, beating Kyle Busch in a green-white-checkered finish. The next week, Blaney won his first Truck race of 2014 in spectacular fashion at Ron Fellows' own Canadian Tire Motorsports Park raceway, edging German Quiroga by 0.49 seconds in a photo-finish.

In 2015, Blaney began his Xfinity Series schedule at Las Vegas in the Boyd Gaming 300. After leading two laps, he was briefly in contention for the win. After spinning out fellow driver Erik Jones late in the race, Blaney restarted the final restart in eighth place. Despite this, he drove from eighth to second in the final 21 laps. Though he caught up to race leader Austin Dillon with three laps to go, Blaney was unable to force his way by Dillon. Blaney finished second to Dillon by a three car-length winning difference.

Blaney during practice for the 2016 Pure Michigan 400

In the Cup Series, Blaney performed well for a rookie in the No. 21 for the Wood Brothers team. He picked up his first Top 10 at Talladega in the Geico 500, running as high as second and finishing 4th. He didn't qualify for three races due to rainouts. He nearly won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Xfinity race, finishing second to Kyle Busch after being passed on the final lap. He won at Iowa and nearly won at Road America in his debut at the track. He again won at the Kentucky standalone race in September beating Ty Dillon on a late race restart. Blaney got his second top 10 of his career in Sprint Cup at Kansas for the Hollywood Casino 400 finishing seventh.

Blaney began competing full-time in the Cup Series in 2016 with the Wood Brothers despite that the Wood Brothers were excluded from NASCAR's new Charter system implemented before the 2016 Cup series season.[25] He got his third Top 10 of his career in Sprint Cup, finishing 6th in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas. Blaney picked up more top tens at Phoenix, Talladega, Kansas, Dover, and Pocono for a so-far successful half of the season with his best finish being a 5th at Kansas. Before the race at Auto Club Speedway, Blaney and close friend Darrell Wallace Jr. drove together from Phoenix to Fontana and stole the headlines one evening when they took over NASCAR's Snapchat and filmed themselves mimicking drivers such as Carl Edwards. At Chicagoland, Blaney ran well all day and for the final restart he gambled and stayed out, and got the race lead. However, on the restart Martin Truex Jr. would get past him easily due to having fresher tires and would go on to get the win and Blaney would finish 4th.

In 2017, fellow single car team Go Fas Racing announced that they would loan their charter to the No. 21 Wood Brothers team, guaranteeing Blaney a spot in every race of the 2017 season. During the Daytona 500, Blaney, despite being caught up in an early wreck, charged from 5th on the final lap to place second to Kurt Busch. Ryan Blaney had a better race in April at Texas Motor Speedway. He qualified second to Kevin Harvick. He then passed Harvick early in the race to lead the next 148 laps. However, a late-race pit stop error cost Blaney the race. He recovered from his mishap and finished 12th. At Kansas, Blaney won his first career Cup Series pole. The race was primarily a duel between him and Martin Truex Jr. After battling Truex for 3 restarts, Truex pulled away to win the race while Blaney finished fourth.

In June, he won his first career Cup race at the Axalta presents the Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway. After passing Kyle Busch with 10 laps to go, he held off Kevin Harvick to claim the victory, qualifying him for the playoffs.[26] On July 26, Blaney announced he would be moving to Team Penske's No. 12 car for the 2018 season; Paul Menard was signed to take over the No. 21 car.[27] At the end of the regular season, Blaney entered the playoffs as the ninth seed, courtesy of his win at Pocono and three stage wins.[28] During his playoff run, Blaney made it all the way into the Round of 8, highlighted by a third-place finish in the Round of 12 finale at Kansas, despite having to start last and at the rear of the field after his car failed post-qualifying inspection.[29] Blaney then scored consecutive top ten finishes at Martinsville and Texas, but despite winning the pole for the Round of 8 finale at Phoenix, he faded outside of the top ten by the end of stage one. He rebounded to secure eighth by the end of the stage two, but could not improve his standing on the track, ultimately finishing the race in 17th and being eliminated from the playoffs.[30] Blaney wound up finishing 29th in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, securing a ninth-place finish in the final Cup Series standings with his one win, four top fives, 14 top tens, four stage wins, and two poles. His ninth-place points finish was also the highest for a driver for the Wood Brothers since Morgan Shepherd finished sixth in the final Cup standings for 1994.

For his tenure at Team Penske, it was announced that Penske would enter a primary sponsorship deal with John Menard and Menards, with whom sponsor's the team's IndyCar operations.

In media

In 2017, Blaney voiced Ryan "Inside" Laney in the Pixar film Cars 3.[31]

At the beginning of the 2017 season, Blaney began a NASCAR-supported podcast featuring former Miss Sprint Cup and current Motor Racing Network personality Kim Coon and NASCAR.com analyst Chuck Bush, called the Glass Case of Emotion podcast.[32]

In June 2017, Blaney became a member of Fox NASCAR's Cup driver-only broadcast team for the Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway, working as a pit reporter alongside Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.[33]

Blaney had a cameo appearance as a delivery boy in the 2017 film Logan Lucky.[34]

Personal life

Blaney is the son of Lisa and Dave Blaney. He has two sisters: Emma and Erin. Blaney is of Irish decent. Blaney is a close friend of fellow drivers and competitors Darrell Wallace Jr and Chase Elliott.[35]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Monster Energy Cup Series

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 MENCC Pts
2014 Team Penske 12 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX DAR RCH TAL KAN
27
CLT DOV POC MCH SON KEN DAY NHA IND POC GLN TAL
22
MAR TEX PHO HOM 60th 01
Wood Brothers Racing 21 Ford MCH
QL
BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT
2015 DAY
39
ATL LVS
19
PHO CAL MAR TEX
42
BRI RCH TAL
4
KAN CLT
42
DOV POC MCH
24
SON DAY
DNQ
KEN
DNQ
NHA
23
IND
12
POC GLN MCH
24
BRI
22
DAR
30
RCH CHI
DNQ
NHA DOV CLT
14
KAN
7
TAL
43
MAR TEX
43
PHO HOM
17
52nd 01
2016 DAY
19
ATL
25
LVS
6
PHO
10
CAL
35
MAR
19
TEX
29
BRI
11
RCH
28
TAL
9
KAN
5
DOV
8
CLT
20
POC
10
MCH
17
SON
23
DAY
14
KEN
35
NHA
11
IND
36
POC
11
GLN
19
BRI
35
MCH
4
DAR
13
RCH
39
CHI
4
NHA
12
DOV
38
CLT
31
KAN
14
TAL
11
MAR
19
TEX
12
PHO
8
HOM
26
20th 812
2017 DAY
2
ATL
18
LVS
7
PHO
23
CAL
9
MAR
25
TEX
12*
BRI
33
RCH
36
TAL
39
KAN
4
CLT
24
DOV
32
POC
1
MCH
25
SON
9
DAY
26
KEN
10
NHA
19
IND
23
POC
30
GLN
8
MCH
15
BRI
10
DAR
31
RCH
18
CHI
11
NHA
9
DOV
23
CLT
8
TAL
18
KAN
3
MAR
8
TEX
6
PHO
17
HOM
29
9th 2305
2018 Team Penske 12 Ford DAY
ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV KAN CLT POC MCH SON CHI DAY KEN NHA POC GLN MCH BRI DAR IND LVS RCH DOV CLT TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM
- Qualified for Trevor Bayne
Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
2015 Wood Brothers Racing Ford 12 39
2016 7 19
2017 36 2
2018 Team Penske Ford 3

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NXSC Pts
2012 Tommy Baldwin Racing 36 Chevy DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH
7
TAL DAR
43
IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN
15
DAY NHA CHI IND
27
BRI
7
ATL CLT
14
112th 01
Penske Racing 22 Dodge IOW
10
GLN CGV RCH
9
CHI KEN
9
DOV
13
KAN
11
TEX
2
PHO HOM
8
2013 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV IOW
9
MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN
1*
DOV KAN CLT TEX 95th 01
48 PHO
10
HOM
2014 Team Penske 22 DAY PHO LVS BRI
4
CAL TEX
8
DAR RCH
9
TAL
21
IOW
2
CLT DOV MCH ROA CHI
9
IND IOW GLN MOH BRI
1
ATL RCH
4
CHI
4
KEN DOV KAN
3
81st 01
12 KEN
5
DAY NHA CLT
4
TEX
3
PHO HOM
4
2015 22 DAY ATL LVS
2
PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL IOW
5
CLT
10
DOV
34
MCH CHI
2
DAY KEN NHA IND
2
IOW
1*
GLN MOH BRI
22
ROA
2
DAR RCH CHI
35
KEN
1*
DOV
4
CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM
5
22nd 461
2016 DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL
20
TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV MOH
3
BRI ROA DAR
7
RCH CHI KEN
3
DOV
4
CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM
4
97th 01
12 CLT
16
POC MCH IOW DAY KEN
8
NHA IND IOW GLN
2017 22 DAY ATL LVS PHO
2
CAL TEX
2
BRI
2
RCH
5
TAL DOV
2
POC MCH IOW DAY CHI
26
KEN DOV
1*
CLT
3
KAN
3
TEX
2
PHO
2*
HOM 89th 01
12 CLT
1*
KEN
2
NHA IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH
2018 DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN NHA IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR IND LVS RCH CLT DOV KAN TEX PHO HOM 01

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NCWTC Pts
2012 Brad Keselowski Racing 19 Ram DAY MAR CAR KAN CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW CHI POC MCH BRI
6
26th 258
29 ATL
11
IOW
1
KEN
11
LVS TAL
6
MAR
8
TEX
30
PHO
5
HOM
28
2013 Ford DAY
8
MAR
16
CAR
8
KAN
3
CLT
25
DOV
3
TEX
8
KEN
5
IOW
26
ELD
15
POC
1*
MCH
32
BRI
3
MSP
16
IOW
10
CHI
3
LVS
20
TAL
21
MAR
5
TEX
15
PHO
7
HOM
2*
6th 726
2014 DAY
6
MAR
4
KAN
22
CLT
22
DOV
2
TEX
4
GTW
7
KEN
3
IOW
2
ELD
3
POC
5
MCH
21
BRI
13
MSP
1*
CHI
12
NHA
10
LVS
6
TAL
5
MAR
5
TEX
9
PHO
4
HOM
5
2nd 812
2015 DAY ATL MAR KAN CLT DOV
7
TEX GTW IOW KEN
3
ELD POC MCH
2
BRI
1
MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX
3
PHO HOM 81st 01

K&N Pro Series East

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
Year Car owner No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NKNPSEC Pts Ref
2011 Dave Blaney 10 Toyota GRE SBO RCH
8
IOW
10
BGS GRE LGY NHA COL GRE NHA DOV 38th 276 [36]
2012 BRI
2
GRE RCH
22
IOW
2
BGS GRE LGY CNB COL IOW
24
NHA DOV
25
GRE CAR 23rd 146 [37]

K&N Pro Series West

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results
Year Car owner No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NKNPSWC Pts Ref
2011 Dave Blaney 11 Toyota PHO AAS MMP IOW LVS SON IRW EVG PIR CNS MRP SRP AAS PHO
1*
63rd 185 [38]
2017 Troy Cline 88 Ford KER TUS IRW IRW SPO OSS CNS SON
26
IOW EVG DOU MER AAS KER 61st 18 [39]

Whelen Modified Tour

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour results
Year Car owner No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NWMTC Pts Ref
2012 Allan Heinke 98 Chevy TMP STA MND STA WFD NHA
33
STA TMP BRI TMP RIV TMP STA TMP 52nd 11 [40]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
In 2012 Blaney switched from Nationwide to Truck Series points at Atlanta Motor Speedway in August.

References

Notes
  1. The current youngest NASCAR national touring series winner is Cole Custer, winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September 2014 at 16 years, seven months, and 28 days.[16]
Citations
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  35. http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/franchises/up-to-speed.ryan-blaney-talks-darrell-wallace-jr-monster-energy-series-debut-pocono-no-43-ford.5463052082001.html
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External links

Achievements
Preceded by NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year
2013
Succeeded by
Ben Kennedy