Ryan Blaney
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Ryan Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Champion, will compete in his ninth NCS season in 2024 following an historic year racing the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske. Blaney joined elite company when he captured his first career Cup Series title as he helped Team Penske secure back-to-back NCS championships for the first time in the organization's history. Blaney returns behind the wheel of the No. 12 Menards/Advance Auto Parts/BodyArmor/Wurth/Discount Tire/Wabash/Dent Wizard Ford Mustang as he looks to defend his series title in 2024.
After starting the 2023 season with seven top-10 finishes in the first 13 races, Blaney broke through with a dramatic victory to snap a 59-race winless streak with a dominant performance in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The victory on Memorial Day - the day after Team Penske won its 19th Indianapolis 500 - represented Blaney's eighth career Cup Series win and the first in the series for No. 12 Ford team crew chief Jonathan Hassler.
The Coke 600 win also locked Blaney into the 2023 NASCAR Playoffs - his seventh-career post-season appearance - where he went on a remarkable run to the title. Blaney and the No. 12 Ford Mustang team earned dramatic victories at Talladega in the Round of 12 and Martinsville in the Round of 8 finale to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 season finale at Phoenix Raceway. It marked the first time that Blaney advanced to the title race following consecutive seasons of seeing his playoff run come to an end one race short of the championship.
After fighting for the lead throughout the championship race, Blaney earned a second-place finish in Phoenix to claim the crown and earn Team Penske's fourth Cup Series title.
Consistently of the most popular drivers in NASCAR, Blaney's championship performance highlighted his hard work and development since he joined Team Penske in 2012 and the No. 12 Ford team's perseverance and focus as they produced Team Penske's 44th championship in racing.
The 2022 NCS season laid the groundwork for last season's title run as Blaney emerged as one of the most consistent contenders in the Cup Series. Hassler took over as crew chief of the No. 12 Ford Mustang team in 2022, following a successful run as an NCS race engineer with Team Penske and as crew chief for the No. 21 Ford Mustang with the team's technical alliance partner, Wood Brothers Racing, in 2021.
During the 2022 season, Blaney led a race-high 84 laps en route to his first-career NASCAR All-Star Race victory at Texas Motor Speedway, netting the No. 12 team a $1 million payday. Blaney recorded a Cup Series-leading nine stage wins while ranking second with 290 stage points during the 2022 season. His average finishing position of 13.6 - thanks to 12 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes - helped Blaney and the team advance to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs.
Blaney first joined Team Penske as a talented but raw 18-year-old racer, competing in select NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) races for the team in 2012. He earned his first victory for Team Penske with an NXS win at Kentucky in 2013 and over the last 11 seasons, Blaney has produced a combined 17 victories and 12 poles across Xfinity Series and Cup Series competition.
In 2015, Blaney firmly established himself as one of NASCAR's rising stars on the strength of 13 NXS 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's title for Team Penske.
Blaney also earned an opportunity to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2015 as he made 16 NCS starts for Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney competed in his first full NASCAR Cup Series season in 2016, as he recorded three top-five and nine top-10 finishes for Wood Brothers Racing to finish 20th in the final series point standings. He 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 since 1995. Blaney 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 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. Blaney also competed in 13 NXS races for Team Penske in 2017 and he earned two wins to help secure the team's fourth series Owner's championship.
For the first time in eight years, Team Penske expanded to a three-car NCS program in 2018 as Blaney raced alongside series championship drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Blaney returned to Victory Lane as the No. 12 Ford team won the inaugural Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The win allowed Blaney to advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs and he eventually finished 10th in the final championship standings.
In 2019, Blaney earned a victory in NASCAR's premier series for the third consecutive season and he also earned an NCS Playoffs spot for the third year in a row. He produced a thrilling victory at Talladega Superspeedway in October that propelled him into the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs.
The 2020 NCS season featured another productive year for the No. 12 Ford Mustang team. Highlighted by his second career win at Talladega, Blaney raced his way into the Playoffs and finished ninth in the series standings for his fourth consecutive top-10 championship season. The performance helped pave the way for the breakout season posted by Blaney and the No. 12 Ford team in 2021.
Blaney established a new single-season career high with three wins in 2021 as he advanced to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs for the second time in his career. An early-season victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway locked Blaney and the No. 12 Ford team into the Playoffs and they continued to produce with wins at Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway to close out the regular season. In addition to the race victories, Blaney and the team delivered consistently strong results throughout the year as the third-generation racer posted a career-best 20 top-10 finishes.
Blaney has a wide variety of interests outside of the racetrack. His hobbies include anything related to Star Wars, basketball, Ohio State football, music and spending time with his dog Sturgill. He works on several initiatives with the Ryan Blaney Family Foundation to raise awareness and funding for brain health causes with a focus on Alzheimer's Disease and concussions. Blaney has also become an avid golfer, playing regularly with Team Penske INDYCAR driver Scott McLaughlin.
Blaney Key Accomplishments: