RYAN BLANEY: 2025 NASCAR DRIVER PROFILE
January 24, 2025NASCAR CHAMP BUYS INTO OHIO RACETRACK
Ryan Blaney wants to use the investment to inspire the next generation of racecar drivers.
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NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney’s newest investment is a dirt racetrack in Ohio that has been in his family for generations, and he plans to update the facility with an aim of making the sport more accessible and appealing to young fans, he exclusively tells Front Office Sports.
Blaney is buying a one-third stake in the Sharon Raceway, which is about to begin its 96th season in operation on May 10. He declined to share financial details. The deal comes as the NASCAR Cup Series travels this weekend to the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Würth 400, which Blaney will compete in.
“Growing up, I remember running around there, answering phones and selling programs and stuff, so it was really neat that the opportunity came up,” Ryan Blaney tells FOS.
Blaney, 31, won the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2023 and last year earned an estimated $1.9 million racing for Team Penske.
He doesn’t just view the racetrack as a family heirloom, though. It’s an investment that will require capital, time, attention and improvements. He intends to use his position as a role model to inspire a younger generation of potential drivers. He says the ownership group has some “good ideas floating around,” including investing more money into upgrades, putting up new facilities and even offering ride-arounds with younger kids so they can experience what it’s like to race around the track (at a much slower speed than professional racecar drivers usually go).
“How do you show that younger kid a cool time, a good experience to where they are really like ‘man, I want to be a racecar driver when I grow up?’” Blaney says. “Whatever you can do to hook them.”
The Sharon Speedway is just the latest investment for Blaney, who tells FOS that his job as a professional racecar driver has put him in the “fortunate” position to meet people and companies he has gotten involved and invested with. His portfolio also includes sports drink company Body Armor, real estate, and more, and he has signed on with countless companies, including Chipotle—which for a time offered a custom burrito bowl called “The Ryan Blaney Bowl”— and Range Leather Co.
“That stuff is important to me because I’m not gonna race forever,” he says.
Blaney will also be featured on the upcoming second season of the Netflix series Full Speed, which comes out May 7. He was a significant focus in the first season.
“It’s neat to show the inner workings of our sport,” he tells FOS.
He says Netflix did a good job showing all the highs and lows of the sport, adding that the series helps make NASCAR drivers seem relatable, especially to younger people he is hoping to inspire to become the next generation of racecar drivers.
“I think it’s been a good hit for not only the core NASCAR fans but we attracted a lot of new eyes,” he says.
In 2023, NASCAR signed a seven-year rights deal worth a total of $7.7 billion with Fox, NBC, Amazon Prime Video, and Warner Bros. Discovery that runs from this year through 2031. Earlier this year, its EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin averaged 4.1 million viewers on Fox—double the average viewership for Luka Dončić’s Lakers debut game on Feb. 10.
The High Point, N.C., native is also a popular driver who attracts the solid backing Penske commands. Menards, Advance Auto Parts, and Body Armor lead the charge, with Wurth, Discount Tire, Dent Wizard, and Wabash among those taking turns as long-term primary sponsors. He’s always been a good draw for companies due to an affable nature and willingness to be himself; his long-term position within this organization is secure and leads to the stability one needs for success.
Blaney has wins on most track types, from road courses to short tracks to superspeedways. His average finish is consistent across the board, ranging from 15.0 at short tracks to 16.3 at the 2-mile and larger venues – partly due to the unpredictable nature of Daytona and Talladega.
The biggest challenge for Blaney could come from within his own organization. While Logano tends to struggle in odd-numbered years (IYKYK), the duo spent the final moments at Phoenix battling over the same piece of championship hardware. Both have deep respect for one another but how those dynamics continue to play out internally remains to be seen. Over time, for example, Jeff Gordon flared up a rivalry with Jimmie Johnson at Hendrick when the latter started collecting championships and displaced Gordon on top of the leaderboard.
| Years | Starts | Wins | Top 5s | Top 10s | Poles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
11 |
342 |
13 |
81 |
149 |
10 |
Blaney also needs to watch out for a developing pattern of slow starts. Eight of his 13 career wins have come in the season’s second half; he’s only won once before the middle of May. Ford has developed a strategy of peaking at the right time but in the springtime, the pressure of being a winless defending champion led to some unnecessary criticism and stress. Should the playoff format change down the road, he risks falling too far behind early.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Blaney was a solid young driver with potential. Now, the 31-year-old is the complete package. A second-generation Cup racer who’s learned to race for wins and titles is in the conversation because he’s made himself impossible to ignore.
The Ryan Blaney file
Car: No. 12 Ford
Team: Team Penske
Crew chief: Jonathan Hassler
Years with current team: 8
Best points finish: 1 (2023)
Hometown: High Point, North Carolina
Born: Dec. 31, 1993
Scouting report
Anonymous takes from drivers, crew chiefs, and assorted industry insiders
“Can you call a guy that finished second in the championship one year after he won the championship underrated?” asks a rival team owner. “He isn’t appreciated enough, and he’s also a good human. He’s the most underrated top driver I’ve seen in my time in NASCAR.”
The reason why might be explained by a fellow driver: “He is a championship contender; I feel like each year. You can’t count them out. They kind of have up and downs, you know – these moments throughout the season – and maybe we just forget about them.” At the same time, another driver says, “He is just like everyone at that team right now in that they pick their spots. They don’t need to win five regular season races because it’s more important to them to be ready to win five playoff races.”
“He is the absolute best to deal with and we would be better off with twenty Ryan Blaneys in the garage,” says one media member.
A broadcaster agrees, saying, “Blaney is the personification of what it means to drive for Roger Penske. He goes about his business and understands what is role is on and off the track. He is a great ambassador for the sport and could be the face of NASCAR someday.”
The only question this broadcaster has is if a Penske driver, with the starched shirts and slacks, can be the face of NASCAR. But Blaney does the best job of blending that with his rugged, blue-collar disposition. Literally not a single person polled had anything negative to say about the 2023 Cup Series champion.
