Ryan Blaney
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Blaney earned a victory in NASCAR's premier series for the third consecutive season in 2019 as he also raced his way into the NCS Playoffs for the third straight season, posting the best championship finish of his career. Blaney produced a thrilling victory at Talladega Superspeedway in October that propelled him into the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs. As he finished a career-best seventh place in the final championship standings, Blaney recorded career-highs in top-five (11) and top-10 (18) finishes.
The native of High Point, N.C. and third-generation driver returns to the No. 12 team this season racing the Menards/Advance Auto Parts/DEX Imaging/BODYARMOR/MoneyLion Ford Mustang. Following Team Penske's realignment of its Cup Series personnel for the 2020 season, Blaney will work with experienced series crew chief Todd Gordon and race engineer Miles Stanley this season, both of whom won the 2018 NCS championship in 2018 with the team and driver Joey Logano.
Blaney first joined Team Penske as a talented but raw 18-year-old racer, competing in select NASCAR Xfinity Series races for the team in 2012. He earned his first victory for Team Penske with an NXS win at Kentucky in 2013 and Blaney has generated a combined nine wins and seven poles for the team over the last eight seasons.
In 2015, Blaney firmly established himself as one of NASCAR's rising stars on the strength of 13 starts in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang for Team Penske. He scored wins at Iowa and Kentucky and posted nine top-five finishes to help the No. 22 team win its third consecutive NXS owner title for Team Penske.
Blaney also earned an opportunity to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2015. He made 16 NCS starts for Wood Brothers Racing, Team Penske's technical alliance partner. At the conclusion of the 2015 season, the Wood Brothers announced the team would race full time in 2016 with Blaney as their driver and he earned the opportunity to compete for Rookie of the Year honors and a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs.
During his first full season racing in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2016, Blaney recorded three top-five and nine top-10 finishes for Wood Brothers Racing and he ranked 20th in the final series point standings. He placed second in the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year rankings to highlight a strong first NCS season. Blaney also posted four top-five and six top-10 results across eight NXS starts for Team Penske.
In 2017, Blaney delivered NASCAR's longest-running team its best season finish since 1995, when he captured his first career NCS victory and the 99th all-time win for Wood Brothers Racing over their nearly 70 years of NASCAR competition with a memorable triumph at Pocono Raceway. Blaney also won his first two career NCS pole positions after he paced qualifying at both Kansas Speedway and ISM Raceway, to give Wood Brothers Racing its 118th all-time pole. After finishing second in the Daytona 500, Blaney and the No. 21 Ford team raced their way into the Playoffs with a strong regular season and advanced to the Round of 8 before eventually finishing ninth in the driver standings. Competing in 13 NXS races for Team Penske in 2017, Blaney also recorded two wins and helped secure the team's fourth series owner championship with 12 top-five results.
In 2018, Blaney made the transition back to Team Penske from Wood Brothers Racing, as he raced a third Team Penske full-season NCS car - a first for the team since 2010. Blaney returned to Victory Lane when he won the inaugural Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The win allowed him to advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. Blaney eventually finished 10th in the final championship standings after scoring eight top-five finishes, 16 top-10 results, three poles and 660 laps led. Blaney also raced in four NXS events in 2018, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang. He posted a dominant win at Texas Motor Speedway in April as he led 132 of 200 laps to capture his seventh series victory.
Blaney has a wide variety of interests outside of the race track. His hobbies include anything Star Wars, basketball, Ohio State football, music and spending time with his dog Sturgill. He also co-hosts the popular The Glass Case of Emotion podcast on NASCAR.com.
Blaney Key Accomplishments