Ryan Blaney

Ryan Michael Blaney was born on December 31, 1993 in the USA and grew up as the third generation of a racing family: His father Dave Blaney raced in the NASCAR Cup Series himself, his grandfather Lou Blaney was a renowned Modified dirt track driver. Ryan entered motorsports through quarter-midget racing, where he won his first race at just nine years old. This was followed by success in Bandolero racing and from age twelve in Legends Cars, before he turned to Late Models. In 2009, at fifteen years old, he finished second in the overall standings in the Pro All Star Series Late Model division and was named Rookie of the Year.

The path to the national NASCAR series led through the Truck Series: In 2013, Blaney contested his first full season for Brad Keselowski Racing, finished sixth in the overall standings, and was named Truck Series Rookie of the Year. A year later, he narrowly missed the championship as runner-up, finishing just twenty points behind Matt Crafton. As early as 2014, he made his Cup Series debut for Penske before joining Wood Brothers Racing in 2015 in the legendary number 21 car, where he contested his first full Cup season starting in 2016. In 2017, he achieved his first Cup victory at Pocono, along with a ninth-place finish in the final standings.

In 2018, Blaney joined Team Penske full-time and took over the number 12 in the Ford Mustang Dark Horse; since then he has finished every season in the top ten. His greatest success came in 2023: After a decisive victory at Martinsville, he secured the NASCAR Cup Series championship with a second-place finish at Phoenix. In 2024, he narrowly missed defending his title and finished as runner-up behind his Penske teammate Joey Logano. In between, he won the prestigious All-Star Race in 2022, and with his victory in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2023, he has also notched a Crown Jewel success. In total, Blaney now has 19 victories in the Cup Series.

Ryan Blaney enters the 2026 season as the full-time driver for Team Penske at the wheel of the number 12. After his 2023 championship and the narrowly missed repeat in 2024, he continues to rank among the most consistent drivers in the field and among the flagship drivers of the team. The goal for the Ford Mustang Dark Horse group should be to once again compete for the Championship 4 and build on earlier successes like the Coca-Cola 600 victory or the All-Star Race triumph.