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Ryan Blaney's sister Erin shared her thoughts on 100-year-old U.S. Marine, Corporal Don Graves, singing the National anthem before Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway. Don Graves is the only flamethrower in the Second Battalion who came off Iwo Jima, and he recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
Expressing how she felt about Don Graves' performance at the Texas race, Erin Blaney took to Instagram and wrote:
"Loved every second of this"
Erin and Emma Blaney are Ryan Blaney's sisters, and all three are children of racer Dave Blaney, who was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2014. In a 2019 interview with NBC Motorsports, Ryan spoke about his close bond with his siblings, saying that family means everything to him.
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He also mentioned:
"My two sisters actually grew up there racing over quarter midgets and got out of it when it was time to move up. We're very close though. My biggest fans are my two sisters even though they live in different states now. I think it was just growing up at the race track and all of us going week in and week out together.”
Ryan Blaney makes his feelings known on P3 finish at Texas
Ryan Blaney finished third at the Wurth 400 at the Texas Motor Speedway as Ross Chastain beat him to the runner-up spot during the final restart. The No. 12 racer was second under the caution and chose the inside row during the restart on Lap 244, wherein Michael McDowell took the lead from Kyle Larson from the outside.
Explaining why he chose to stay behind Kyle Larson during the mentioned lap, Ryan Blaney said (via NASCAR):
“The top wasn’t very good at all. It was pretty dirty. And the one time I have a shot to do it, and don’t do it, the guy (McDowell) gets the lead. So I just didn’t do a good job. Then it was hard to get it after that. Just didn’t get a good push, and just could never hang with them over in [Turns] 3 and 4.”
However, finishing third wasn't as bad for the No. 12 racer, given that he took advantage of the opportunities at the racetrack and clinched a finish in the top 3. In a post-race interview, Ryan Blaney said that his team didn't acquire the third position with strategy but rather by passing ahead of cars. He added (via NASCAR):
“So no, it was good and I thought our car was really good. I couldn’t get control of the race. So, overall, a proud day, fast car, and hopefully go forward. We’ve had speed all year, so it was nice that in the last couple of weeks, we’ve [Penske] gotten a car in Victory Lane. So that’s good, hopefully we can join them.”
While Joey Logano won at Texas and Austin Cindric finished first at Talladega, Ryan Blaney is currently the only Team Penske racer without a victory this season.
