Ryan Blaney

Ryan Blaney

29-Year-Old Driver  
Team Penske
Team Penske
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Blaney has been a classic underachiever the last few seasons since promoting to the NASCAR Cup Series. We keep waiting for the Penske Racing youngster to take that big leap and have a breakout campaign. Last season was his first winless campaign since his rookie year of 2016, although Blaney kept his Top-5 and Top-10 totals at a comparable and reassuring 12 and 17 respectively. His laps led were also in line with recent norms at 636 for the season, so it wasn't like Blaney wasn't racing up front. He was just missing that luck or magic ingredient to close wins in 2022. We're sort of taking a "hold" approach to Blaney for the new season. There were some highlights in the final 10 races of last season to be sure, but no real signs of a major breakout heading into 2023. We've tagged him as a hold status driver going into the new season. Read Past Outlooks
Runner-up Finish at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
March 12, 2023
Blaney finished second in the United Rentals 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway Sunday afternoon.
ANALYSIS
Blaney would start eighth on the grid and race among the Top 10 all afternoon in the Arizona desert. He would grab sixth- and eighth-place finishes in the first two stages and be set with good track position for the stretch run. Blaney didn't have the speed to lead laps, but he'd use the overtime restart to grab multiple spots. The mad scramble after the green flag waved saw Blaney get around Kyle Larson to claim an impressive runner-up finish. It was his first Top-5 finish of the season.
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Ryan Blaney See More
Texas Grand Prix Preview: Circuit of the Americas
5 days ago
NASCAR goes road course racing for the first time in 2023 this weekend at Circuit of the Americas. Mark Taylor sets the stage for the Echopark Texas Grand Prix and tells us which drivers to keep an eye on.
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6 days ago
Joey Logano was able to break the Chevrolet stranglehold on 2023 with a dominant performance at Atlanta. C.J. Radune discusses other drivers that are trending up and down heading to Circuit of the Americas.
NASCAR DFS:  Ambetter Health 400
10 days ago
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Ambetter Health 400 Preview: New Superspeedway
13 days ago
NASCAR returns to the East coast where William Byron will be looking to go for three wins in a row. Mark Taylor gives us the drivers to keep an eye on at the new Atlanta Superspeedway.
NASCAR Barometer:  William Byron Wins Two In A Row
14 days ago
William Byron and Hendrick Motorsports continue to make an early statement in 2023 with their second straight win. C.J. Radune highlights some other winners and losers from Phoenix and looks ahead to Atlanta.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2014
2008
Blaney took a few more steps in his development last season. He posted a career-best three victories and 20 Top-10 finishes. Blaney also tied a career-best mark in terms of standings finish, coming in seventh-place in the final tally. The driver of the No. 12 Ford will lose Todd Gordon as crew chief and start anew with Jonathan Hassler in 2022. That could prove to be a minor setback, especially in the early part of the season. It could take some time for the new duo to develop communication and chemistry. Blaney is still wildly talented and should continue posting strong numbers as he and his crew chief get some races under their belts. While we're very optimistic about the upcoming season, we still believe Blaney lacks the potential to challenge for the championship. He and his Penske Racing team will be among the faces just outside the top championship contending teams.
One of the top rising drivers in the sport, Blaney held serve in 2019. He didn't quite make the gains we expected for him last season, but much of that can be attributed to the COVID-affected campaign. Blaney still slugged it out to one win and 17 Top-10 finishes. The driver of the No. 12 Ford didn't make a deep drive into the playoffs, and that's where much of the disappointment comes in. Still, Blaney's numbers held up well when compared to 2019 and his average finish held steady at 13.8. Crew chief Todd Gordon and Blaney now have one season under the belts as a duo, and will now look to climb from here. This driver and team certainly have that potential. Blaney has become one of the top superspeedway drivers in the series, and his road course skills are improving with each passing start. This could be the season where he notches a multi-win campaign and breaks the 20 Top-10 plateau for the first time.
The Penske Racing youngster took some gradual steps over the last three seasons, and now Blaney may be poised to explode. The driver of the No. 12 Ford won a race for the third-straight season, and he claimed career-best marks of 11 Top-5 and 18 Top-10 finishes in 2019. It all added up to an impressive seventh-place finish in the points for Blaney. Now he and crew chief, Jeremy Bullins, will look to step it up a notch in the upcoming season. We really liked the way this driver and team rounded out last season. Blaney has a lot of momentum and looks like he has the most room to grow of the drivers ranked in our Top 10. We could see Blaney post his first multi-win season in 2020 and he could break the 20 Top-10 plateau for the first time in his career. Those fantasy racing players who are fortunate enough to get Blaney on the cheap this season should reap some pretty big rewards. 2020 could be the last season this driver comes cheap in drafts and auctions.
Blaney made some strides last season in his first year of racing under the Penske banner. The driver of the No. 12 Ford racked up his second-career win with a victory at the Charlotte Roval in perhaps one of the toughest tests of last season. He also grabbed three pole positions and 16 Top-10 finishes en route to a 10th-place finish in the standings. Blaney would have liked a deeper playoff run, but that just wasn't in the cards. He'll look for more incremental improvement in 2019. Blaney returns to the same team and crew chief Jeremy Bullins. The two will look to keep the momentum rolling and to drive deeper into the playoffs this coming season. Blaney is very talented and has yet to really tap into his potential. He makes a good candidate for breakout or speculative upside this season.
Probably one of the most watched drivers in the upcoming season will be Blaney and his new No. 12 Penske Racing team. The young driver makes the jump from Wood Brothers Racing to Penske. Blaney accomplished a lot of great things in his short time with the No. 21 Ford team. He even took the Wood Brothers back to victory lane last year with a big win at Pocono Raceway. Blaney's one win, 14 Top-10 finish campaign of last year should be viewed as just the tip of his potential. With the full resources of Penske Racing, great lineup of sponsors and Jeremy Bullins calling the shots from atop the tool box there's great potential in this driver and team. Blaney is one of the rising stars of NASCAR and he should post an incredible breakout season in 2018.
The Wood Brothers Racing return to full-time action last season was a great success. A big part of the reason for it lies directly on Blaney's shoulders. The youngster exceeded expectations in every way. He claimed nine Top-10 finishes along the way en route to a respectable 20th-place finish in the final driver standings. Not bad for a driver who only had 18-career starts at NASCAR's top level prior to last season. Blaney will set the bar a bit higher in the upcoming season. He will once again be paired with crew chief Jeremy Bullins, and the team also returns completely intact. The goal in 2017 will simply be to make the Chase for the Cup and to be more consistent from week-to-week. Both goals are entirely possible. Winning a race may still be out of reach for the No. 21 Ford team, but there's still plenty of room for more Top 10s and improved consistency.
After nine seasons of part-time racing in the Sprint Cup Series, Wood Brothers Racing will return to full-time competition in 2016. Blaney will take the wheel and continue the work that he started last season with his 16-start schedule. Over those efforts there were a lot of ups-and-downs, but the young driver managed to claim two top-10 finishes and even one top-5 finish. Blaney will compete for Rookie of the Year honors and battle with Chase Elliott for that honor. Jeremy Bullins returns to the crew chief's seat and will continue to build chemistry with this talented youngster. Blaney has eight combined victories between the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series and he has a runner-up finish in the 2014 truck series standings to his credit. Blaney has tremendous talent and will grow with this small team.
The second generation driver and son of Sprint Cup Series veteran Dave Blaney will get his first full-time NASCAR ride in 2013. Blaney will race the full schedule in pursuit of the championship for the strong No. 29 BKR team. He made nine starts for this team last season with one victory and five Top-10 finishes. If you project those results out over a full 22-race schedule you get numbers that are near championship-contending. Blaney is obviously talented, and the Camping World Truck Series is a good fit at this point and time for the young driver. This driver and team should be a winning combination.
More Fantasy News
Late Charge to Eighth at Daytona
NASCAR Cup
February 20, 2023
Blaney overcame a mid-race accident to make a late charge and finish eighth-place in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway Sunday, Team Penske reports.
ANALYSIS
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Dominant in Daytona Duel
NASCAR Cup
February 16, 2023
Blaney finished third in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at Daytona International Speedway Thursday night.
ANALYSIS
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Runner-up Finish at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
November 6, 2022
Blaney finished second in the Season Finale 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway Sunday afternoon.
ANALYSIS
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Third in Xfinity 500
NASCAR Cup
October 30, 2022
Blaney finished third in the Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Raceway Sunday afternoon.
ANALYSIS
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Blow to Championship Hopes
NASCAR Cup
October 16, 2022
Blaney ran into problems and finished 28th in the South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon.
ANALYSIS
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