Ryan Blaney's Indy 500 interest piqued since joining Penske

The 22-year-old Sprint Cup rookie — who is on loan to the Wood Brothers from Team Penske — has always aspired to race at NASCAR’s top level. But since joining Penske fold, Blaney’s interest in IndyCar has piqued.

On Friday, Blaney told Motorsport.com that driving in the Indy 500 is something he “would love to” do.

“I have a lot of races on my bucket list — and doing the double would definitely be up there, for sure,” Blaney said. “When I was a kid, we would always come here to watch my dad run the 600. So I’ve never been.

“I’ve actually never been to an IndyCar race. We’ve never been able to line up schedules to get there, but I’ve never been to the 500. It would be neat to go to and watch, but I think it would definitely be cooler to drive in it.”

The third-generation racer comes from solid open wheel lineage.

His grandfather Lou Blaney won over 600 races during his nearly half-century career driving modified and sprint cars. Dave, affectionately known as the “Buckeye Bullet,” won the 1984 USAC Silver Crown title and 1995 World of Outlaws Championship prior to moving to NASCAR in 1998. He returned to a limited WoO schedule this year.

Although the Blaney clan — including Ryan’s uncle Dale — has enjoyed a variety of racing, only Dave was able to secure an IndyCar audition. He ended up in stock cars instead. Still, that didn’t diminish the younger Blaney’s interest in other forms of racing — including IndyCar.

His curiosity has deepened due to the Penske connection — and the organization’s success which includes a record-16 wins in the Indianapolis 500.

“I always followed it just because I thought it was neat,” Blaney said. “Growing up I was a fan of all racing, whether it’s NASCAR, Indy Car, Australian V8 stuff, F1, I liked it all. Definitely now since I’ve been with Penske you watch the IndyCar stuff more just because you know those guys – Will and Helio and Juan and Simon – you support them more just because they’re friends of yours and you like to see that team succeed also, and they’ve been succeeding very well the past few weeks.

“I think it’s really cool to be a part of an organization when it’s the 100th running. I think Mr. Penske is driving he pace car, which is really, really neat, and that would be a heck of a way to cap that off – with a guy who has won there more than anybody, and to be able to do the 100th would be really neat. It’s a shame I can’t go to it, but I’ll definitely be watching on TV.”