Ryan Blaney

1.1. Family and Heritage

Ryan Blaney is the only son and middle child of Lisa and Dave Blaney. He has two sisters, Emma and Erin. Emma is married to racing driver Cale Conley, while Erin is in a relationship with fellow NASCAR driver William Byron. Blaney is of Irish descent. He maintains close friendships with other drivers and competitors, including Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, and Chase Elliott.

1.2. Early Racing Career

Blaney began his racing career at a young age, competing in quarter midget racing, where he secured his first win at the age of nine. He also achieved victories in Bandolero cars. At 12, he transitioned to Legends cars, winning the Lowe's Motor Speedway Summer Shootout and the Young Lions Winter Heat Points Championship. He also claimed three divisions of the Carolina Fall Nationals in quarter midgets and the Concord Speedway Young Lions Winter Heat Points Championship in Bandoleros.

At age 12, Blaney made his debut in late model racing at Orange County Speedway. In 2009, at 15, he started competing in the Pro All Stars Series (PASS)-sanctioned South Super Late Model Series, finishing second in points and earning the series' Rookie of the Year award. He also placed third in the PASS national points. Additionally, he won the Eastern Grand Nationals in Huntsville, Alabama and the Gasoline Alley National Championship quarter midget event in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In 2010, Blaney continued his participation in the PASS South Super Late Model Series, securing his first career win in the series at Dillon Motor Speedway. He added further victories at Greenville-Pickens Speedway and Newport Speedway, leading to a second consecutive second-place finish in the PASS South championship standings. Blaney also competed in the Champion Racing Association (CRA)-sanctioned Southern Six Pack series, where he won the series championship for 2010.

Returning to the PASS South Super Late Model Series in 2011, Blaney won two races at Dillon Motor Speedway and Ace Speedway, ultimately winning the series championship. For the 2012 season, Blaney continued to compete in the PASS Super Late Model Series, driving the No. 98 car for Carswell Motorsports.

2.1. Lower Series

Blaney's foundational years in NASCAR's developmental and support series laid the groundwork for his future success, marked by early wins and consistent top finishes.

2.1.2. ARCA Racing Series

Blaney also debuted in the ARCA Racing Series in 2011, achieving a strong second-place finish at IRP. In 2013, he competed in the ARCA Racing Series for Cunningham Motorsports, driving the No. 22 Dodge. During this season, he secured a pole position at Michigan and achieved multiple top-five finishes, including a second-place finish at Michigan and a third-place finish at Chicagoland.

2.1.3. Xfinity Series

In 2012, Blaney signed with Tommy Baldwin Racing to compete in six NASCAR Nationwide Series races, driving the No. 36 SealWrap-sponsored Chevrolet. He made his debut at Richmond International Raceway in April, qualifying in the top ten and finishing seventh. In July 2012, Blaney announced a contract with Team Penske to run a minimum of three races in the Nationwide Series, starting at Iowa Speedway in August.

In 2013, Blaney substituted for Joey Logano in the Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway in June due to a schedule conflict caused by a rainout, finishing ninth. On September 21, 2013, he competed in a second Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway, where he led 96 of 200 laps to claim his first career win in the series, defeating Austin Dillon and Matt Crafton. Notably, Blaney was the only race winner in the 2013 Nationwide season who did not have any Sprint Cup experience.

For 2014, in addition to a full Truck Series schedule, Blaney ran 15 Nationwide Series races for Team Penske. He won his second career Nationwide race in August 2014 at Bristol Motor Speedway, beating Kyle Busch in a green-white-checkered finish. In 2015, Blaney began his Xfinity Series schedule at Las Vegas in the Boyd Gaming 300, finishing second to Austin Dillon after a late charge. He nearly won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Xfinity race, finishing second to Kyle Busch after being passed on the final lap. He secured victories at Iowa and the Kentucky standalone race in September, beating Ty Dillon on a late-race restart.

2.1.4. Camping World Truck Series

Blaney also ran selected races in the Camping World Truck Series for Brad Keselowski Racing in 2012, finishing sixth in his debut at Bristol Motor Speedway. On September 15, 2012, he won his first career Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway. At the time, he became the youngest winner in Truck Series history at 18 years, eight months, and 15 days, breaking the previous record set by Kyle Busch in 2005. This record was later surpassed on September 20, 2014, by Cole Custer, who won at Loudon at 16 years, seven months, and 28 days.

In 2013, Blaney returned to the Camping World Truck Series, competing full-time for Brad Keselowski Racing and contending for the series' NASCAR Rookie of the Year award. He earned his first career pole in the series at Kentucky Speedway in June and secured his second career Truck Series win at Pocono Raceway in August, a victory he attributed to advice from his father.

In January 2014, Blaney announced he would run a full Camping World Truck Series schedule with BKR. He had many top-ten finishes but no wins in the spring. At Dover in late May 2014, he finished a close second to Kyle Busch. Following this race, Blaney was among the drivers who advocated for Cup Series drivers to limit their participation in lower series due to their dominance. The next week, Blaney won his first Truck race of 2014 spectacularly at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, edging German Quiroga by 0.49 s in a photo-finish.

In 2015, Blaney secured another Truck Series win at Bristol Motor Speedway, and also had strong performances with a second-place finish at Michigan and a third-place finish at Texas.

2.2. Cup Series

Ryan Blaney's career in NASCAR's top-tier series has seen him evolve into a championship contender, marked by significant wins and consistent performances across different teams.

3.1. Superstar Racing Experience (SRX)

Blaney competed in the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) series. In the 2022 season, he participated in the race at Sharon Speedway and finished seventh, contributing to his 18th-place standing in the overall series classification with 14 points.

4.1. Media Appearances

At the beginning of the 2017 season, Blaney launched a NASCAR-supported podcast titled Glass Case of Emotion, co-hosting with former Miss Sprint Cup and Motor Racing Network personality Kim Coon and NASCAR.com analyst Chuck Bush. The podcast concluded at the end of the 2023 season.

In June 2017, Blaney became a member of Fox NASCARs Cup driver-only broadcast team for the Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway, serving as a pit reporter alongside Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.. He also notably interviewed race-winner Brad Keselowski; the following day, the roles were reversed when Blaney won his first Cup Series race, with Keselowski (still in his firesuit) interviewing him in victory lane. The driver-only broadcast format returned for the 2018 Xfinity race at Talladega Superspeedway, where Blaney reprised his pit duties. Since 2021, Blaney has served as a commentator in the booth for the driver-only broadcast, as well as a rotating driver analyst for regular Xfinity and ARCA Menard Series broadcasts.

4.2. Video Games and Documentaries

Blaney has made numerous guest-starring and cameo appearances in television and film throughout his career. In 2017, he voiced Ryan "Inside" Laney, a character modeled after himself, in the Pixar animated film Cars 3. That same year, Blaney also had a cameo appearance as a delivery boy in the film Logan Lucky. In 2018, Blaney guest-starred in the TV show Taken in season 2, episode 12, "Imperium," portraying Special Agent Nathan Wood; the episode aired on April 20, 2018. Blaney also guest-starred as Shane Powell in an episode of the CBS reboot Magnum P.I., where he sported a notable mustache for his cameo. In 2019, Blaney had a cameo appearance as himself in the Netflix television series The Crew alongside Austin Dillon and Cole Custer.

In 2021, Blaney was one of three drivers featured as cover stars for the NASCAR 21: Ignition video game. Blaney was also a featured driver in the 2022 USA Network series Race for the Championship, which followed the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. In 2024, he was featured in the Netflix documentary series NASCAR: Full Speed, which chronicled the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

5.1. Family and Relationships

Ryan Blaney is the only son and middle child of Lisa and Dave Blaney. He has two sisters, Emma and Erin. Emma is married to racing driver Cale Conley, and Erin is in a relationship with fellow NASCAR driver William Byron. Blaney is known to be close friends with other drivers, including Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, and Chase Elliott. In December 2024, Blaney married model Gianna Tulio.

5.2. Hobbies and Interests

Blaney is an avid Star Wars fan. He has multiple tattoos, including a Star Wars-inspired piece on his right leg, a sprint car on his left side, and the number 10 in red on the left side of his chest, which is a tribute to the number he most often raced with during his formative years.

6.1. NASCAR

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6.2. ARCA Racing Series

6.3. Superstar Racing Experience