Ryan Blaney narrates Sprint Car Hall of Famer's words of appreciation after championship victory: “I have this Blaney curse”

After winning the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champions Ryan Blaney received thousands of congratulatory calls and messages but one call was the best of all the messages and added an extra flair to his victory celebration.

The call was none other than Sprint Car Hall of Famer Doug Wolfgang, who is a close friend of Blaney’s father and grandfather. The Sprint Car legend often texts Blaney about his achievements. This time, it was more than that.

Wolfgang’s call was much more than congratulatory banter. He revealed an inner conflict of the Blaney family at its best, symbolizing it as the “Blaney curse.”

During the NASCAR Awards’ media session, when asked about who was the coolest person to reach out after winning the title, Ryan Blaney replied (via speedreport.com):

“My dad is a huge fan of his. My dad respected Doug so much and was always very envious of his success. He was so good. So he called me Monday, which was super cool. I’ll tell you this story,” Blaney went on. “He was like, ‘I have a dilemma. I have this debate internally with myself.’

“I was like, ‘What’s that?’ He’s like, ‘Well, I raced with your grandpa and I was jealous of him, so I tried to mirror my driving style off of him.

“And then your damn dad came along and he was even better, and I tried to mirror myself off of your dad, and now I’m not even racing and I’m watching you and now I’m thinking back that I need to mirror myself off of you, so I have this Blaney curse that I just love watching them.’

“That meant a lot to me because I love Doug Wolfgang and my da respected him so much. That was probably the coolest one personally for me to get a call [from].”

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“I wanted to be like my dad” – Ryan Blaney went emotional during acceptance speech

The #12 Ford driver admires his father Dave Blaney a lot. His father is a role model for him. During his speech at NASCAR Awards in Nashville, Blaney was emotional speaking about his grandfather and dad.

As reported by On3.com, Ryan Blaney said:

“Obviously, growing up, watching Dad race, that’s just what I wanted to do, and I wanted to be like my dad. I was super lucky to be able to see that at a young age and get the whole spectrum of seeing what it’s like as a driver, seeing how teams operated.”