Kriti Mehrotra
Born on December 31, 1993, Ryan Michael Blaney is actually a third-generation race car driver, as the son of former NASCAR driver Dave Blaney and grandson of dirt track racer Lou Blaney. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the Hartford Township, Ohio, native followed in their footsteps almost as soon as he was able, meaning he started to race when he was just a young boy. However, as evidenced in Netflix’s ‘Full Speed,’ he is arguably better than everyone else in his family in terms of not only his skills and speed but also his overall achievements.
How Did Ryan Blaney Earn His Money?
According to reports, Ryan kickstarted his career when he was just 5 or 6 years old by participating in Quarter Midget racing before also stepping foot into Bandolero Racing, only to earn his first win in 2003. From there, he moved up to Legends Car Racing and Late Model Racing at the age of 12 while still being a part of the Quarter Midget circuit, resulting in him establishing a great name for himself. After all, he consistently won championships, which even helped him land a spot at the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) from 2009 to 2012. It was during this period that Ryan also found himself debuting at NASCAR, starting his stint within this organization with the ARCA Racing Series and the K&N Pro Series in 2011.
Yet, no one could have ever imagined that he would win his first race at the Pro West season finale in Phoenix and end up scoring in the top ten in the entirety of these series. Ryan reportedly raced under these leagues until 2013, by which point he had already made his debut in the Camping World Truck Series (2012) as well as later earned the coveted Rookie of the Year title. He continued to achieve wonders in this league until 2015, first under the banner of Team Penske and then Brad Keselowski Racing, before moving on to the more advanced Xfinity Series in 2015. He also proudly debuted in the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2014, but his exposure during his first two seasons here under Team Penske and then Wood Brothers Racing was rather limited.
2016 is marked as Ryan’s first full-time year in the Cup series as a Rookie with Wood Brothers Racing, just for him to put up a fight in every race and really prove his mettle. He didn’t win his first Cup race until the 2017 season at the Pocono 400, all the while continuing to compete rather successfully in the Xfinity series, too, making him a driver to watch out for. It was shortly after this that he announced he would be moving to Team Penske in the 2018 season as #12, to which he has remained loyal to this day, even around 7 years later. The truth is, with this organization, their executives, their engineers, his pit crew under them, and his teammates/fellow competitors, he found a perfect blend of support and motivation.
That’s how Ryan has been able to compete incredibly well over the last few years, especially after he stepped away from the Sfinity series in 2019 to focus entirely on the NASCAR Cup Championship. In fact, since then, he has won the 2022 All-Star Race, the 2023 Coca-Cola 600 in Concord, North Carolina, the 2023 Championship, and the 2024 Xfinity 500 in Martinsville, Virginia. He did come close to defending himself in the 2024 Championship, but he had to settle for second place as his teammate Joe Logano managed to secure and maintain an almost last-moment lead.
Ryan Blaney’s Net Worth
Since Ryan has been an active stock car racing driver for the majority of his life, almost 15 years of which he has spent within NASCAR as of writing, it’s undeniable that he has accumulated significant wealth. After all, each racer receives a base salary from their employer based on their skills as well as experience, and it appears as if this legacy driver currently makes around $3 million. This does not include their share from each race they win, which is estimated to be 10% of the total winning purse, or their work as a public figure in terms of partnerships and sponsorships. With Ryan having started nearly 500 races as of writing, out of which he has won a total of 25 with purses ranging from $500,000 to 11 million over different series, he has undoubtedly earned millions through wins alone.
Alongside all that, there’s the fact that this Huntersville, North Carolina, resident recently became the partial owner of the Sharon Speedway track and has an ongoing partnership with Range Leather Company. He has also had partnerships with Chipotle, Black Buffalo Inc., and Flag & Anthem, among many other brands. Therefore, taking into consideration all his possible earnings from when he was just a child, his likely investments and returns over the years, his overall assets, expenses, and lifestyle as a newly married man, we believe Ryan currently has a net worth of $13 million.
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