When Ryan Blaney formally accepted the NASCAR championship in Nashville, he said he wanted to be like his dad. Dave Blaney, a sprint car Hall of Famer and NASCAR driver. Now, he’s made his own legacy, but Blaney still has some of that dirt track talent in his blood.
After winning the NASCAR championship, Ryan Blaney had calls from all sorts of folks. However, on Monday after the race, he got a call that he says is the “coolest” of all the messages he got.
Doug Wolfgang, a Sprint Car Hall of Famer just like Dave and Lou Blaney. Wolfgang and the Blaney family are friends. The iconic dirt racer often texts Ryan about his accomplishments. This time, it was more than that.
“My dad is a huge fan of his,” Ryan Blaney told Speed Sport in Nashville. “My dad respected Doug so much and was always very envious of his success. He was so good. So he called me Monday, which was super cool. I’ll tell you this story,” Blaney went on. “He was like, ‘I have a dilemma. I have this debate internally with myself.’
“I was like, ‘What’s that?’ He’s like, ‘Well, I raced with your grandpa and I was jealous of him, so I tried to mirror my driving style off of him.
“And then your damn dad came along and he was even better, and I tried to mirror myself off of your dad, and now I’m not even racing and I’m watching you and now I’m thinking back that I need to mirror myself off of you, so I have this Blaney curse that I just love watching them.’
“That meant a lot to me because I love Doug Wolfgang and my da respected him so much. That was probably the coolest one personally for me to get a call [from].”
Ryan Blaney emotional during acceptance speech
This all ties into how Ryan Blaney views himself, how he models his career. While his dad respected Wolfgang so much, the respect was mutual and went back and forth. Racers are always looking for that extra edge, picking up tricks from whoever they can.
During his speech in Nashville, Blaney was emotional talking about his grandfather and dad. His grandfather, Lou, died in 2009 after a battle with Alzheimer’s. But he made sure to let his dad, who was there in attendance, know the impact that he has had on his career.
“Obviously, growing up, watching Dad race, that’s just what I wanted to do, and I wanted to be like my Dad,” Blaney said. “I was super lucky to be able to see that at a young age and get the whole spectrum of seeing what it’s like as a driver, seeing how teams operated.”
A big celebration for Ryan Blaney this week. The 2023 NASCAR champion is going to continue his run of appearances in the coming weeks leading up to the 2024 season.
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