Ryan Blaney

JimmieGordon2448

JimmieGordon2448

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August 14, 2014 1:08pm EDT
Wood Brothers Hire Ryan Blaney, Form Alliance With Penske


By: Jeff Owens


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Wood Brothers Racing has formed a technical alliance with Ford’s Team Penske and hired young driver Ryan Blaney to run a partial Sprint Cup schedule for the No. 21 team next season.

Blaney, the son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney, will run at least 12 Sprint Cup races next season for the Wood Brothers, which will be sponsored by Ford’s Motorcraft and Quick Lane divisions. Blaney, 20, will replace 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, who will be running a full Cup schedule for Roush Fenway Racing next season. The Wood Brothers team has had a technical alliance with Roush in the past, but will be aligned with Penske next season.

Blaney, the current points leader in the Camping World Truck Series, will run his second Sprint Cup race this weekend, when he races the Wood Brothers car at Michigan in place of Bayne, who will be running the Nationwide race at Mid-Ohio.

“Wood Brothers Racing is excited to align with Roger Penske and his team and we couldn’t be more pleased to put Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 Ford Fusion,” Eddie and Len Wood, co-owners of Wood Brothers Racing, said in a joint statement. “Ryan is a third-generation racer and one of the best young drivers out there. He has been a winner in many different kinds of cars since he started racing at a very young age and we fully expect that to continue while he is with us.”

“I want to thank Wood Brothers Racing, Team Penske, Ford Racing and everyone at Motorcraft and Quick Lane for the opportunity to race next season in the Sprint Cup Series,” Blaney said. “To get a chance to race at the top level of NASCAR in such a historic car as the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion is a dream come true. I’m really looking forward to 2015.”

Blaney will make his official debut for Wood Brothers Racing in the 2015 Daytona 500. He will race for the team at Daytona, Las Vegas, Texas, Talladega, Charlotte, Michigan and Indianapolis, among other tracks.

He also will race for Team Penske in the Nationwide Series next year. He won his first Nationwide race for Penske last year at Kentucky Speedway.

The iconic Wood Brothers have won 98 Cup races with a host of drivers, including hall of famers David Pearson and Cale Yarborough. Their last win was with Bayne in the 2011 Daytona 500.
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http://beta.sportingnews.com/article/4602297-wood-brothers-hire-ryan-blaney-form-alliance-with-penske-sprint-cup-2015?modid=http://t.co/0SJbQwT5vO
 
http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cu...yan-blaney-run-sprint-cup-slate-wood-brothers

Ryan Blaney in Cup for Wood Bros

Blaney will qualify Bayne's car this weekend at Michigan

Blaney's 2015 Sprint Cup schedule will include stops at Daytona, Las Vegas, Texas, Talladega, Charlotte, Michigan and Indianapolis

Wood Brothers announced Thursday that Blaney, who has been a Team Penske developmental driver since 2012, will run at least 12 races next season in the No. 21 car.

I'm speculating, but the "will run AT LEAST 12 races" comment might be significant. The Woods Brothers has made an alliance with Penske. Woods Brothers in the past had a Technical alliance with Roush. They had Roush's Bayne in the car, he won the 500, but hasn't done much after that. It will be interesting to see how Blaney does with Penske/Woods help in almost the same situation next year.
 
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It sounds good for Blaney after listening to the press conference with he and the Woods brothers. Blaney said he owed Kezeloski big time for his ride in the trucks and would continue next year driving for Kez because he wants to pay him back. The woods brothers said they do not have sponsorship to run all the races next year and they don't see it happening, but they might be able to run more than they have scheduled. But it looks like Blaney will be driving in all the series next year, and at least full time in the trucks.
 
FenderBumper said:
I bet Cooper standard and Reese tow power get on the car for a race or 2.
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yeah I was thinking the same thing, if he does well, the Woods brothers better get ready for more races, they are getting almost everything from Penske, who is brand new with this affiliate thing, motors come from Robert Yates.
 
StandOnIt said:
yeah I was thinking the same thing, if he does well, the Woods brothers better get ready for more races, they are getting almost everything from Penske, who is brand new with this affiliate thing, motors come from Robert Yates.
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As I predicted when Penske went to Ford, the swing has begun away from Roush and toward Penske. Won't be long before they are racing Penske-Yates-Roush engines.

Roger also self funded most of Keselowski's first year, so he will probably put Penske Trucks or cars on the 21 for some races.
 
Bayne moving up from a development driver for Roush to full time cup for Roush, left a hole open at the Woods brothers, Roush didn't have any development drivers(not good), Penske/Kez had a hotshoe running for the truck title that they needed to keep. I just hope he does well and the Woods brothers have a chance to race more and be competative, old team that doesn't need to be gone IMO.
 
StandOnIt said:
Bayne moving up from a development driver for Roush to full time cup for Roush, left a hole open at the Woods brothers, uPenske/Kez had a hotshoe running for the truck title that they needed to keep. I just hope he does well and the Woods brothers have a chance to race more and be competative, old team that doesn't need to be gone IMO.
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Chris Buescher and Ryan Reed aren't bad either.
 
JimmieGordon2448 said:
Chris Buescher and Ryan Reed aren't bad either.
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both of them are so new and green, they might work out, both of them are getting big opportunities. Buescher runs a smart race, but he is so new there is no way he was ready for a cup ride. Neither one is setting Nationwide on fire. Blaney is leading the Truck series in comparison and has way more experience.
 
StandOnIt said:
both of them are so new and green, they might work out, both of them are getting big opportunities. Buescher runs a smart race, but he is so new there is no way he was ready for a cup ride. Neither one is setting Nationwide on fire. Blaney is leading the Truck series in comparison and has way more experience.
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Oh yeah, they aren't ready for the 21 and neither are Blaney's level.
 
That's your opinion, I think he will do ok, I wonder if that will count as his rookie year. Blaney is going to get his feet wet with a limited schedule so time will tell. I think next year after Buesh and Reed have a year to race the tracks and learn the car, you might be able to tell if there is anything there to build on.
 
Funny how the Wood Brothers have gone from a team for old farts to a team for young talent. I hope Blaney does well in the 21.
 
StandOnIt said:
yeah I was thinking the same thing, if he does well, the Woods brothers better get ready for more races, they are getting almost everything from Penske, who is brand new with this affiliate thing, motors come from Robert Yates.
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Penske has the #95 team as an affiliate; they do a lot of testing for Penske. Kenseth brought up that it may not be "fair" earlier this year.
 
Blaney will do well in Cup...eventually.

He may not have all of the fanfare surrounding him that a few others do but he's a level headed, able young driver.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Penske has the #95 team as an affiliate; they do a lot of testing for Penske. Kenseth brought up that it may not be "fair" earlier this year.
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I'm going by what they said at the press conference today, Eddie Wood I think it was said that this was Penske's first time being an affiliate compared to Roush, so it could be the first time working with the Woods brothers. He said they were going to play it by ear with the Penske deal.
 
Good for Blaney. He's a good kid. Ultra talented racer for his age. Wish Penske would just put him in the 22 in Nationwide but at least he's getting an opportunity to ascend in this sport.
 
27th for his first run, not bad at all.

I think he will do quite alright, Roush's package seem solid this weekend. A lot of these young guns, honestly in both NNS and CWTS... Probably one of the best pools in terms of depth. Well, that I have seen. A lot of names will eventually be able to make the next step. I really wish the Wood Brothers would have a bit more money to run a full schedule again, I would love to see that gold #21 every weekend again.
 
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Wood Brothers have pushed Ryan Blaney's schedule to 18 Sprint Cup Series races this season.

Blaney was originally scheduled to run 12 with the Ford team.

Blaney is a Team Penske development driver, and the additional races are being funded by Penske sponsors Ppg, SKF and Snap-On.

Among the races added to Blaney's schedule in the No. 21 Ford are the Bristol night race and the Southern 500 at Darlington on Labor Day weekend.
 
Kiante said:
F*ck yeah!

He will run half the season! Man I would kill to see the Wood Brothers full-time again.
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never know, if he busts off some good finishes, they could get a full schedule. Penske won't miss an opportunity if it is there.
 
StandOnIt said:
never know, if he busts off some good finishes, they could get a full schedule. Penske won't miss an opportunity if it is there.
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It would be nice to see a third Penske car. Blaney would be in a pretty good situation with a champion in BK and a budding superstar in Joey. Both are intelligent drivers and have the tangibles to help Blaney grow.
 
Kiante said:
It would be nice to see a third Penske car. Blaney would be in a pretty good situation with a champion in BK and a budding superstar in Joey. Both are intelligent drivers and have the tangibles to help Blaney grow.
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I could see it come to fruition down the road. Penske has had a pretty remarkable turnaround....after the Rusty and Ryan days they struggled to be competitive beyond Kurt Busch at times. Now they have two championship level drivers and a budding prospect.
 
I believe it is wide open for Blaney if he performs at the cup level, and that is a big "If". Can't say for sure, but I think Penske will give the Woods Brothers a bigger $hot in the arm than Roush did with Bayne.
 
is there confirmation it will be the classic wood brothers paint job on the track?
 
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