“Life’s made,” Ryan Blaney declared after meeting Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley, a.k.a. Rey, at a Clippers-Lakers game at Staples Center. The Team Penske #12 admitted he nearly melted from being awestruck. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion has long worn his love for movies and pop culture on his sleeve, even voicing a character in Cars 3 and popping up in smaller roles.

But in a recent interview, Blaney took things a galaxy far, revealing his itching to land a role in the Star Wars universe. The NASCAR fan-favorite says he would welcome a cameo in Star Wars with open arms and has a hilarious brag he wants to make to his future children!

Ryan Blaney suggests and requests his big role in Star Wars

Beyond the roar of engines, Ryan Blaney has tested his acting chops in Hollywood. In 2017, he made a cameo in Steven Soderbergh’s heist comedy Logan Lucky, playing a delivery boy alongside stars like Channing Tatum. But his real breakout role came in animation, voicing Inside Laney in Pixar’s Cars 3. The 2023 Cup Series Champion lent his voice and racing spirit to the character, who mirrors his third-generation legacy behind the wheel.

During a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the Team Penske driver reflected on how much fun it is to jump into these projects. He shared, “I enjoy that stuff — like, that stuff’s unique to me. I’ve been really fortunate to be able to do a couple of those things, like little TV show spots, little parts in some smaller movies. I was in Cars 3, like, I had a couple of lines in Cars 3. Tons of kids come up to me with that die-cast car of my little Cars 3 car, and they love it. It blows their minds. Like, if they know I’m in Cars 3, they’re like, ‘You were with Lightning McQueen?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I was with Lightning, alright? Don’t worry about it.’”

Ryan Blaney has also made a few memorable television appearances. In 2021, he featured in The Crew, a NASCAR-themed comedy series starring Kevin James as the crew chief of a struggling race team. Blaney appears as himself alongside fellow driver Austin Dillon, sharing a lighthearted on-screen moment with James. He also stepped outside his comfort zone in the NBC action drama Taken, guest starring in season two, episode 12 as a special agent, Nathan Wood, a role far removed from the racetrack. However, these pale in comparison to his dream Hollywood role.

Ryan Blaney’s Hollywood goal is to be a stormtrooper, nameless and faceless, delivered a one-line death in a big battle. The Team Penske driver joked, saying, “I wanna be in one of them Star Wars movies so bad. Like, make me a stormtrooper. Put a helmet on; you don’t have to see my face. Kill me. You can kill me, that’s fine. I just wanna be like, ‘You see that stormtrooper that Jedi just mowed down? That was me. That was me.’ ‘See that body cut in half right there? That’s your daddy.’ I’ll tell my kids that one day.” And with the Team Penske driver and his wife, Gianna, welcoming their first baby later this year, which drew a lot of awe and adoration from the fans, his dream doesn’t seem too far away.

And his love for Star Wars isn’t just empty talk; the No. 12 driver’s fandom runs deep. He has been spotted at Star Wars premieres and spent hours exploring Disney’s Star Wars-themed Galaxy’s Edge with his NASCAR best friend, Bubba Wallace. He has even spent hundreds on lightsabers and worn a Princess Leia costume. Blaney even sports a massive Darth Vader tattoo on his front thigh. The top part of it is a portrait of Darth Vader (Death Star included), and the bottom part, closer to his knee, appears to be an image of Vader battling with Obi-Wan Kenobi. He recounts the plots in two-minute retros or quotes Han Solo’s “ I love you… I know.” His passion is beyond surface level.

And with his admiration comes a deep respect for the teamwork behind TV and film. Ryan Blaney feels it mirrors the teamwork that wins races, and he is genuinely drawn to stepping into new characters, even briefly. Ryan Blaney also compared movie set life to his everyday grind. He says, “I’ve gotten to go into these sets and stuff, and it reminds me a lot of a race shop. Sets for TV shows or movies. There are so many people involved in just setting up a scene or putting these sets together that they don’t ever get on camera. It’s like race shops, there’s tons of people who are involved that maybe don’t travel, right? But they have a huge part in the product.”

Well, Hollywood Blaney is certainly something we will keep an eye out for in the coming years, but back on the racetrack, Blaney is facing tougher challenges than securing a role in Hollywood.

Blaney opens up about why Chicago was one of the toughest tracks on NASCAR

Ryan Blaney recently took to the wild streets of Chicago in the Grant Park 165, the third installment of the NASCAR Street Race. After a solid mid-pack finish in the grueling 75-lap event, Blaney, winless on road courses since 2018, opened up about why he embraces the chaos of what he calls the toughest road course on the calendar.

Driving the No. 12 Ford, Blaney qualified 17th with the best lap of 19.89 seconds at the top speed of 87.14 mph, just 1.23 seconds behind pole sitter Shane van Gisbergen, who clocked a blistering 88.34 mph lap. Reflecting on his run, Blaney didn’t hold back in calling the course a mental workout. He shared just how demanding the track is and why, strangely enough, he loves it anyway.

The Team Penske driver said, “I enjoy it. I enjoy the challenge of it. I mean, it’s tough. I think Chicago is the toughest road course we go to, just because, you know, people always ask me, like, what’s challenging about I’m like, well, just, you know, the roads are rough. Everything’s super rough, trying to figure out the bumps, and it’s so narrow, like there’s nowhere to bail. Like, if you kind of get in the corner too hot, smoke it in there, and you get bouncing real hard on your blocks or something, or on the shock limiters.”

Finishing 12th on a course that demanded precision and resilient focus, Ryan Blaney once again showed how challenges bring out his best. The Chicago Street race tested every driver’s nerve, and Blaney held his own from the green to the checkered flag. As the NASCAR circus rolls into Sonoma, Blaney, now properly seasoned on road courses, is clearly eager to take another shot at turning right and left.

With no road course Cup win in 7 years, the Team Penske star will be adamant to break that streak and build some momentum heading into the playoffs in a few months. What do you think will happen first? Blaney landing a Star Wars role or getting a road course win? Let us know in the comments!