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Ryan Blaney went from losing to Lightning McQueen to winning NASCAR Cup Series title

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Ryan Blaney went from losing to Lightning McQueen to winning NASCAR Cup Series title

LEBANON − Ryan Blaney is a man of manifestation.

Mr. Manifestation, if you will.

Or Mr. Mustachio.

Or Mr. Ryan “Inside” Laney.

The 32-year-old NASCAR driver is a third-generation racer with an affinity for horsepower, fancy facial hair, tattoos and the “Cars” movie series. He is known around the garage as “YRB,” (Young Ryan Blaney).

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Ryan Michael Blaney could, and probably would, answer to any of those names.

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Ryan Blaney, NASCAR driver, champion with mustache for Team Penske

AVONDALE, ARIZONA – MARCH 08: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Dent Wizard Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 08, 2026 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

(Meg Oliphant, Getty Images)

Let’s start with Mr. Mustachio.

“You look like Dale Earnhart,” a fan remarked to Blaney on May 30 during a meet and greet at an Advanced Auto Parts store in Murfreesboro, pointing to his mustache.

“Really?” Blaney replied, a humble grin beginning stretch out that ‘stache.

He then strummed his thick, brown lip rug, which takes Earnhardt’s old go-to ‘stache to higher hair-raising, horseshoe-looking like level. One that results in a bushel of whiskers that is meticulously manicured around the corners of his mouth and past his lips.

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“People ask me about it all the time,” Blaney told The Tennessean four days before the Earnhardt comparison, ahead of the Cracker Barrel 400 on May 31 at Nashville Superspeedway, where he won last year and finished eighth this year after leading 46 laps.

Blaney, who is third in points behind Tyler Reddick and 2026 Cracker Barrel 400 winner Denny Hamlin, explained that his plan last offseason was to grow a “big old beard.”

Blaney will race in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at 2 p.m. on June 7 in the NASCAR Michigan race at Michigan International Speedway.

LEBANON, TENNESSEE - MAY 31: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, waits on the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on May 31, 2026 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

LEBANON, TENNESSEE – MAY 31: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, waits on the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on May 31, 2026 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

So he did. Then he spent about a week “playing with it and shaving it down.”

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“And then I got to the mustache part,” he said.

And?

“My wife liked it, so I decided to keep it and here we are,” said Blaney, who has 18 career Cup Series wins and 177 top 10s in 392 career races.

Disney’s ‘Cars’ facts

Ryan Blaney was a kid who grew up watching Disney’s “Cars” movie.

Over and over.

He was 12 years old when it was released in 2006.

By the time he was 23 he was in one of those movies, doing the voice of the character Ryan “Inside” Laney in “Cars 3,” which was released in 2017.

“I was a big fan of ‘Cars,’ ” Blaney said. “That movie was unbelievable … as a fan of racing.

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“When they asked me to be a part of that third movie, in a small, little role, that was kind of a childhood thing. I definitely jumped on it. I have a lot of kids coming up to me and ask me to sign that diecast car. … That’s really special to me.”

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While his character, a Next Generation rookie, had only one line, that line went a long way with Blaney.

“McQueen’s still not here?” Inside Blaney asked. “Didn’t he pull this when he was a rookie? At least that’s what my grandfather told me.”

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NASCAR video game facts

Ryan “Inside Laney competed for the Piston Cup in 2017 (in the “Cars 3” movie), which he didn’t win.

Blaney competes in the NASCAR Cup, which did win in 2023.

But when Blaney has a video game controller in his hand, he’s never in control of himself.

Blaney, you see, also grew up in High Point, North Carolina, a kid who was hooked on the NASCAR video game series.

“I would never choose myself,” Blaney said. “I would always choose somebody else. Switch it up.

“I didn’t really mind too much who I was. I just liked to play with everybody, random people. It was pretty fun.”

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) races during the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Sunday, May 31, 2026.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) races during the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Sunday, May 31, 2026.

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Blaney’s go-to pick growing up, of course, was his father, Dave Blaney, a veteran of 473 Cup races spanning 17 seasons. He’d also drive as his other favorite drivers, such as Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart.

After Blaney reached the Cup Series in 2014, he found himself racing for real against the latter three.

In 2025, Mr. Manifestation, along with Christopher Bell and William Byron, was on the cover of NASCAR video game.

“I had all the NASCAR games growing up, and I was always curious to see who was going to be on the cover,” Blaney said. “I remember Jimmie and Jeff and Tony and some of those guys being on covers.

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“I was like, ‘Man, that’d be cool to have my cover on a game.’ I hope it’s the same way with another kid who loves racing. Maybe I’m their favorite driver. I just relate to that.”

Ryan Blaney’s racing family heritage

Ryan Blaney, the son of a former NASCAR driver, said he looked up to his father.

But the real roots of his racing DNA trace back to his grandfather, Lou Blaney, a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame.

Grandpa won 600 races during a 47-year career, mostly driving a No. 10 car his father, a local sawmill and lumber company owner, helped fund.

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His racing career ended in 2002, when Ryan was 9.

So not long after the younger Blaney began racing professionally, he decided to pay homage to his grandfather in a permanent and painful way: By getting his Sprint Car tattooed on his left ribs.

The procedure took six hours, but out of the pain Blaney gained his favorite tattoo.

“He’s the one who really started the racing side of my family,” Ryan said. “I wanted to have something I could see every day and remind me of my family.

“It just reminds me of where this all started.”

Where it all goes from here remains to be seen.

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Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ryan Blaney went from losing to Lightning McQueen to winning Cup title



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