Blaney Hopes to Continue Family Tradition of Winning in Iowa
DB Racing Team Making Second K&N Start of 2011 Season
“Iowa is a place for winners.”
Ryan Blaney understands that the pristine track in Newton, Iowa is a relative newcomer to the touring paths of racing’s heroes. But the state itself means so much to racing and everything to the Blaney family.
“This state was the site of my dad’s greatest day as a driver,” says Blaney. “When I see ‘Iowa’ on the K&N Series schedule, there’s an incentive to perk up. You go to Daytona to draft. You go to Indianapolis to go fast. You go to Iowa to win.”
Blaney’s dad is Dave Blaney, the 1997 winner of the Knoxville Nationals, the nation’s most prestigious dirt Sprint Car race. Ryan was two years-old when daddy won the World of Outlaws championship in 1995. The elder Blaney, now a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular, started his career traveling night-to-night, racing in front of the most raucous of race fans, on Midwestern dirt. But that win in ’97 is the one that stands out.
May 17, 2011
The younger Blaney is not racing on Iowa’s legendary dirt track, but he is making a NASCAR K&N Pro Series start pivotal to his young career at a facility that has a growing reputation for being a consummate driver’s track. That is something that could play into the driver’s wheelhouse.
His budding career has already been filled with success. He went from winning races in Legends cars, a division that typically houses pint-sized peddlers, to contending for championships in the Carolina/Virginia hotbed of Super Late Model racing. Ryan pocketed four wins and the regional title – the “Southern Six-Pack” – for the Championship Racing Association.
The 17-year-old has a tremendous tutor. “Dad” doesn’t hesitate to step in and provide advice, but he also knows that Ryan has to grow into his seat on his own.
“If I see him making a mistake time after time, obviously he’s not aware of it because he keeps making it. Pointing out mistakes like that, I can sometimes help to shorten his learning curve a little bit,” says Dave. “But really, he has to go through it. He has to go through the experiences and learn what to do. You’re not on your own, but you’re close to it.”
Iowa Speedway fits right in with Ryan’s learning curve, but the family tradition of winning in the Hawkeye State is not lost on the up-and-comer.
"We’re going to Iowa to win, plain and simple,” says Ryan. “I’m not running for points anywhere this year. Our plan is for me to learn the (K&N Series) car, learn the track, and go for the win.
His father learned a long time ago that a win at the Knoxville Nationals would grow his racing career and now Ryan looks to harvest his own special Iowa victory this weekend here in Newton.
On a weekend off from the PASS Super Late Model Tour, where he leads points, Ryan will be making his second K&N Series start of the year at Iowa Speedway.
