The Blaney family is one of the most reputable racing dynasties in the United States. The family tree’s connection to speed began with George Blaney, who started a race team alongside his lumber business around the 1950s. It then passed on to Lou Blaney, then Dave Blaney, and now lives through Ryan Blaney. But even this rich heritage has its limitations in the real world.
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Ryan, who now drives in the NASCAR Cup Series for Team Penske, spoke in an interview earlier this year about his struggles to obtain his driver’s license as a teenager. The instructor who guided him had been a race fan and knew the kind of family that he came from. So, things had been pretty exciting for him from that standpoint. However, the real struggle was elsewhere.
He said, “I think the toughest part of that one was the written test, you know, when you got to go in and… because that can be hard. Like, what does this sign mean? And you’ve never seen that sign in your life, and you’re like, I don’t know. But yeah, it was pretty easy, fortunately.”
He did end up getting his license at the end of the day and preserving his family’s legacy in the town. Imagine a Blaney failing his driver’s license test.
Ryan talked about his family’s impact on him, “It came from my grandfather to my dad and my uncle. As a kid, I was lucky to see it at a young age. I was fortunate enough to have a shot at racing. As a kid, I wanted to do what dad did.”
After George Blaney began his race team in Ohio in the 1950s, his son, Lou, joined it in 1958 to compete in modified and sprint car races. Over the next 47 years, he would secure enough accolades that would serve as the foundation on which the family name was built.
He reached Victory Lane 600 times in his career and won six sprint car championships between 1972 and 1978 at the Lernerville Speedway. As the years passed, he had two children, Dave and Dale Blaney, with his spouse, Kate Keir. Dave [Ryan Blaney’s father] succeeded his father in 1981 and won the 1984 USAC Silver Crown Series title.
He then won several races in the World of Outlaws that led to his first NASCAR Cup Series start in 1992. His brother, Dale, meanwhile, continued racing sprint cars. Ryan is now up there doing it and making his family proud at the biggest racing track in the country.
