Ryan Blaney

Ryan Blaney

Blaney at Road America in 2015
Born (1993-12-31) December 31, 1993
Cortland, Ohio
Achievements 2010 CRA Southern Six-Pack Champion
2011 PASS Champion
Awards 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year
2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
54 races run over 3 years
Car no., team No. 21 (Wood Brothers Racing)
2016 position 20th
Best finish 20th (2016)
First race 2014 5-hour Energy 400 (Kansas)
Last race 2016 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 11 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
47 races run over 5 years
Car no., team No. 22/12 (Team Penske)
2016 position 97th
Best finish 22nd (2015)
First race 2012 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (Richmond)
Last race 2016 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
First win 2013 Kentucky 300 (Kentucky)
Last win 2015 VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 (Kentucky)
Wins Top tens Poles
4 39 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 20, 2016.

Ryan Michael Blaney (born December 31, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 21 Ford Fusion for Wood Brothers Racing, and part-time in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 and the No. 12 Ford Mustangs for Team Penske. He is the son of NASCAR driver Dave Blaney.

Racing career

Early career

Blaney's 2011 ARCA car at IRP

A third generation racer and son of Sprint 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,[6] winning by over two seconds.[7]

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

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][11] 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.[12]

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.[13] He also ran selected races in the Camping World Truck Series for Brad Keselowski Racing,[14] finishing sixth in his debut in the series at Bristol Motor Speedway.[15] 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.[16][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.[18] Blaney won his first career pole in the series at Kentucky Speedway in June,[19] then won his second career Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway in August.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] Blaney was the only race winner in the 2013 Nationwide season to not have any Sprint Cup experience.[23]

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.[24] 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.[25]

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 will begin 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.[26] 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.

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.)

Sprint Cup Series

Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
2015 Wood Brothers Racing Ford 12 39
2016 7 19

Xfinity Series

Camping World Truck Series

* 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.[17]
Citations
  1. 1 2 McLain, Mike (February 6, 2012). "Young Blaney coming up in a hurry". Tribune Chronicle. Warren, Ohio. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Getting to Know Ryan Blaney". Ryan Blaney official website. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Ryan Blaney Set to Make ARCA Debut for Venturini". Automobile Racing Club of America. June 23, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  4. 1 2 Utter, Jim (March 17, 2012). "Dave Blaney's son, Ryan, making name". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  5. 1 2 Moody, Dave (January 18, 2012). "Ryan Blaney Inks Nationwide Schedule With TBR". Sirius-Speedway.com. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  6. ↑ Bassetti, John (January 30, 2012). "Blaney's 2012 up in the air". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Blaney Best in Phoenix K&N Race". Motor Racing Network. November 12, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  8. ↑ Utter, Jim (August 21, 2012). "Blaney going full speed ahead". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, NC. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  9. ↑ "NASCAR: Tommy Baldwin Racing signs 18-year-old Ryan Blaney to run six Nationwide races". AutoWeek. January 18, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Ryan Blaney to Drive Carswell Motorsports 98 Super Late Model in 2012". Ryan Blaney official site. March 7, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  11. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (January 19, 2012). "Dave Blaney's son, Ryan, to run six Nationwide races for Tommy Baldwin Racing". SceneDaily.com. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  12. ↑ Bassetti, John. "Ryan Blaney debuts 7th in Nationwide competition". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, OH. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  13. ↑ Pistone, Pete (July 17, 2012). "Ryan Blaney joins Penske Nationwide team". Eye on NASCAR. CBS Sports. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  14. ↑ Pistone, Pete (August 9, 2012). "Ryan Blaney joins Brad Keselowski's Truck Series team". Eye on NASCAR. CBS Sports. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Ryan Blaney Makes Impressive Debut". Brad Keselowski Racing. August 23, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Blaney becomes Truck Series' youngest winner". NASCAR.com. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  17. ↑ "16-year-old Cole Custer becomes youngest to win Truck Series race". Sporting News. September 20, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  18. ↑ Pope, Thomas (April 7, 2013). "Rising star Ryan Blaney coming to Rockingham trucks race". The Fayetteville Observer. Fayetteville, NC. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Blaney wins pole for UNOH 225 at Kentucky". Yahoo! Sports. June 27, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Ryan Blaney wins Truck race at Pocono on dad's advice". USA Today. McLean, VA. August 3, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  21. ↑ Norman, Brad (June 11, 2013). "Logano sub Blaney welcomed weekend rain". NASCAR.com. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  22. ↑ "19-year-old Ryan Blaney wins Kentucky Nationwide race". USA Today. September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  23. ↑ Pennell, Jay (February 28, 2014). "Do Nationwide regulars want Cup drivers' participation limited?". Fox Sports. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Ryan Blaney will make Sprint Cup debut this season for Team Penske". Fox Sports. January 29, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  25. ↑ Owens, Jeff (August 14, 2014). "Wood Brothers hire Ryan Blaney, form alliance with Penske". Sporting News. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  26. ↑ Bruce, Kenny (November 20, 2015). "WOOD BROTHERS GOING FULL TIME IN 2016". NASCAR. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ryan Blaney.
Achievements
Preceded by
Ty Dillon		 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year
2013 		Succeeded by
Ben Kennedy
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