When he was growing up, Ryan Blaney loved playing many sports, including basketball and baseball. But as he progressed into his teens, the reality dawned on the No. 12 Team Penske driver.
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It was just that Blaney’s physique, thanks to his genetics, was not cut out for basketball or baseball. At 5 feet, 9 inches, he was the ideal height and size for racing.
Well, Ryan is a fourth-generation Blaney to dive into racing. And it is evident that the penchant for the steering wheel, temperament, and last but more importantly, the physical attributes, were all fine-tuned for the track. Blaney realized this at a young age, and there was no stopping his journey into the top tier of the sport since then.
“I came to the realization that I’m probably not going to make it [as either a pro basketball player or Major League baseball player],” Blaney said recently on The Dan Le Batard Show. “I have my father’s genes and I’m probably going to be 5’9″ and 140 lbs, and racing is probably the best route for me.”
The 31-year-old might be diminutive in stature, but he sure knows something about horsepower. Well, his 2023 NASCAR Cup championship title with Team Penske provides ample proof of that.
Ryan doesn’t get ruffled easily on the race track. A good part of the reason for that is how he learned to race from both his father, Dave Blaney, a former NASCAR Cup driver and a National Sprint Car Hall of Famer, and his grandfather, Lou.
A well-known modified dirt track racer, Lou and Ryan’s great-grandfather George began a three-car race team in the middle of the 20th century. Dave’s brother, Dale, is also a dirt track racer.
Racing has been a family business for the Blaneys
From George onward, the Blaney men not only had great talent, but were also known for their quiet, workmanlike demeanors. They rarely lost their cool behind the wheel. Ryan is of the same mold. And when it came to deciding on a career, the path was predestined.
“I’ve been doing this since I was nine years old,” the fourth-generation racer said. “I grew up watching my dad race, so I’ve been around the track forever. It’s always what I wanted to do just because I grew up around it and it was what I was most comfortable with, just watching my dad do it.”
Unlike other fathers who far too often push their athlete sons or daughters into working at becoming a professional, Dave Blaney never pushed Ryan. He saw that his young son had great talent and potential. But he also let him make his own choices and path.
“My dad never forced me to do it,” Ryan said about being pushed into racing.
“He was always, ‘Are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure you want to go to the next step?’ So it was something I wanted to do that my dad did, and I was lucky to get an opportunity and make a living off of doing this,” he added.
Ryan has reached the Cup Series Victory Lane 13 times in his career. He won his first race at Pocono Raceway in 2017. His most recent victory was at Martinsville Speedway in November 2024, which helped him clinch his second Championship 4 appearance. He has seven career wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and four in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as well.
