Ryan Blaney Rockets to Victory Lane at Greenville on Fourth of July Weekend

Ryan Blaney went to victory lane for the third time this season at Greenvill-Pickens Speedway. (51 Sports Photos)

Greenville-Pickens Speedway (SC) is an old school historic race track.  So the best way for Ryan Blaney to score his first victory there was do it the old fashion way - by coming from the mid-pack to the front to score the victory.  After starting 15th, Blaney rocketed his way to the front to score his second career PASS South win in the Firecracker 125. 

“Every win feels good, but it’s extra special to win at a historic place like Greenville,” said Blaney.  “We were great all day and in qualifying, we were really bad.  I was a little unsure of how many spots we could make up in 125 laps.  As the race kept going, I knew we were going to be fine. We kept our tires under it and it paid off at the end.”

Blaney was confident that his team could perform at Greenville that he even put on his Facebook page that he was going to Greenville to get a win. 

“I just remembered it when you said it,” said Blaney with a smile.  “I knew we had a good shot with Jamie Rouleau - our crew chief.  He always has strong cars when we come to Greenville.  We needed this to turn things back around after a few bad finishes.”

This was the first Late Model win for Ryan without his Dad in attendance. Ryan’s father Dave Blaney was in Daytona qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event.  However after the event, a cell phone was dialed and two were able to talk about the victory.

“It was a great phone call,” said Blaney.  “He gave me heck about qualifying, but he was proud of me for winning.  It’s going to be a good night at the Blaney house.” 

It turned out to be a great weekend for the family as Ryan’s uncle Dale and his father Dave both visited victory lane in Sprint Cars.

Blaney’s victory ended a three-race win streak for fellow PASS South competitor and Hamke Race Car driver Andy Loden.  With the strength of his win it’s easy to think that Blaney could be heading into a streak of his own. 

“This is a huge momentum swing and it feels like we could go out and win four in a row,” added Blaney. “We just need to be consistent as well.”

Blaney will return to action in the CRA Southern Six Pack Series where he won the most recent event at Hickory. The series heads to Gresham Motorsports Park on Saturday, July 17th for the U.S. Auto Sales World Series of Speed 100.