“Rest easy”: Ryan Blaney’s foundation shares heartfelt post on the passing of Kate Blaney

Ryan Blaney’s foundation recently remembered the matriarch of the Blaney family in a post on X. Kate Blaney passed away on July 14.

Compared to her husband, Lou Blaney's legendary modified and sprint car racing history, Kate Blaney (widely recognized in NASCAR pedigree circles because of her associations) remained in the background of one of America's most famous racing families.

By and large, the life partner of Lou Blaney, she was primarily known as the mom of two futuré car racers, Dave Blaney (dad of currently racing Ryan Blaney) and Dale Blaney. Lou and Kate brought two sons up—Dave and Dale—both of whom became successful racers in their own right. Dave Blaney, of course, is the father of current NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney and keeps the family motorsport legacy alive.

Ryan Blaney’s foundation, Ryan Blaney Family Foundation, recently shared a post on X remembering the good moments that Kate Blaney left behind.

"We will always remember Kate as the kind, beautiful, and endlessly giving woman that she was. A soul full of life, strength, and grace. Rest easy, dear Kate. We love you always. #rbff"

Ryan Blaney's 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season has been characterised by grit and moments of brilliance amidst challenges. To get started, Blaney had a strong seventh-place result in the Daytona 500 before facing a slew of hurdles, including multiple DNFs.

Blaney proved his talents with an emphatic win at Nashville Superspeedway, where he led 139 laps and finally broke through after a series of unfortunate races. He has been in 17 races and has seven top-5s, eight top-10s, one pole, and points solidly and comfortably within the playoff bracket, with an average finish of around 16 among the average weekly finishes.

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Ryan Blaney admits NASCAR Cup drivers need to ‘get a lot better’ to challenge SVG’s road course reign

Shane van Gisbergen continued his remarkable mastery of NASCAR’s road courses at Sonoma Raceway, where he dominated from pole position and led nearly every lap to victory. Ryan Blaney, a top competitor from Team Penske, openly praised van Gisbergen’s road course expertise, emphasizing his smooth driving style, strategic tire management, and technical prowess that set him apart from the rest of the field.

"He's (Shane van Gisbergen) really good. He's really smooth, and he's really fast with lap time, but he also is not out of control doing it, so he can save tires while maintaining a solid lap time to keep him up front. He's just put on a clinic on these road courses, and in the last 3 from Mexico and Chicago and here (Sonoma), he's really dominated," said Blaney [via Frontstretch]

"He's just really technical at how he does it and his approach to it, he's just really, really solid race car driver. We're all going to have to get a lot better at these places to have a chance." [0:46 onwards]

Blaney noted that van Gisbergen’s approach is exceptionally technical and deliberate, allowing him to maintain impressive speed without pushing his car to the edge or overdriving it.