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NASCAR Cup Series Drivers Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney Speak Candidly About Special Bond

Jared Turner Written by Sports EditorJared Turner
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Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace

No matter what happens or who get mad at whom in the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, a relationship between at least a couple of playoff drivers is bound to endure.

Those drivers are best buddies Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney. And their friendship predates their time in the NASCAR Cup Series. In fact, it goes all the way back to when they were both 9 years old and racing Bandolero cars.

How close are Bubba and Blaney?

Close enough to be genuinely happy for each other’s successes. Both on and off the racetrack. They’re also close enough to playfully rib each other — and join together in poking fun at other drivers, as they once did back in 2016.

“I like him less and less every year,” Blaney quipped when asked about Wallace in an early August press conference at Iowa Speedway.

The Ties Run Deep Between Bubba Wallace And Ryan Blaney

Not surprisingly, Ryan Blaney was one of the first people to congratulate Bubba Wallace after Wallace’s huge Brickyard 400 win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.

“Blaney and I live 10 minutes from each other and see each other all the time,” Wallace said moments after his Indy victory, one of three wins he’s captured in 281 Cup Series starts. “He’s there for me, and I’m there for him, through the good and the bad. You always try to be that shoulder to lean on. I truly appreciate him and what he’s been able to do for me in my career.

“It’s meant at lot. It’s just cool to have your family here at the track. And you know who you can lean on. And it can make the bad weekends a little bit easier.”

It was only appropriate that Blaney came to Victory Lane to visit Wallace after the 23XI Racing driver’s Brickyard 400 triumph. After all, Wallace has been a regular in Victory Lane after Blaney’s Cup Series wins — which far outnumber his own.

This past weekend at Daytona, Blaney prevailed for the 15th time since making his Cup Series debut in 2014. Along the way, Blaney, unlike Wallace, has also earned a Cup Series championship — which he did in 2023.

“You watch him and all the success he’s had here,” Wallace said. “What he’s been able to do in his career has been super-cool.”

However, Wallace remembers a time from their early racing days that he often had the upper hand on Blaney. Today, Blaney — who competes for Team Penske, winner of the last three Cup Series championships — is widely considered one of NASCAR’s elite talents.

“I do look back at those days where we were kids and I used to kick his ass,” Wallace said. “It’s like, ‘You did it then. Why can’t you do it now?’ You kind of keep that as fuel.”

Ryan Blaney And Bubba Wallace Are More Than Buddies At The Racetrack

Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney didn’t just share some good times in Victory Lane back in July when Wallace conquered The Brickyard. When they returned home to Charlotte a few hours later, the celebration continued.

After achieving a major success at one of the world’s most fabled racetracks, why not keep the party going with your best friend, right?

“You’re competing with everybody out there. But you’re happy when your friends are successful and they win,” Blaney said at Iowa the weekend after Wallace took The Brickyard. “I went over to Bubba’s house Sunday night after Indy to celebrate that. Couldn’t miss that one.”

The bond that Blaney and Wallace share is fueled not just by their past but where they find themselves in life at this moment. Wallace became a parent for the first time last September. Blaney’s first child is due before the end of 2025.

Apparently, relatively new dad Wallace is already giving Blaney some tips on how to parent.

“His kid’s nine months,” Blaney said in early August of Wallace’s son, Becks. “Mine’s on the way. Hopefully, they’ll have the same friendship that he and I had growing up together.

“We’re both really lucky that we’ve been able to do what we’ve been able to do and stay really close through the years.”

Jared Turner Written by Sports EditorJared Turner
Jared Turner is a motorsports writer who has covered NASCAR for 20 years. He has interviewed over 20 NASCAR Hall of Famers and around 100 drivers, crew chiefs, and team owners, both past and present. He has also covered the sport for FOX Sports (where he was a two-time recipient of the FOX “X” Award for “Xtraordinary” job performance), NASCAR.com, Sporting News, NASCAR Pole Position Magazine, the SPEED network, and plenty of other online and print-only publications throughout his career. Notably, Jared has penned dozens of articles for NASCAR souvenir programs, including several featured prominently in Daytona 500 keepsakes. A Virginia Press Association award winner and former member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Jared has racked up accolades both for his writing and his academic work. He studied both Communication and Psychology at Virginia Tech, where he was permanently enshrined in Phi Beta Kappa — the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. Jared excels at feature writing and opinion writing, much of which stems from his dedication to all levels of racing.
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