What Is the Meaning Behind Ryan Blaney’s Tattoos? Exploring the Stories and Origins of His Ink

Almost every legendary NASCAR driver has a special hobby. Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson’s area of interest is running triathlons, while 15-time Most Popular Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr finds joy in building and upgrading computers. For 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, however, this pet peeve has a dash of artistic fascination. The Team Penske star recently dominated the headlines with his season’s second win at Daytona. Currently 4th for the 2025 Cup Series standings, Blaney is a solid contender for the championship. And he fuels his drive by looking at the works of art inked on his body every day.

Historically, people have tattooed themselves for various reasons. From ritualistic and spiritual meanings to functional uses like identification and protection, ancient Egyptians and the Japanese Yakuza have immortalized this art form. In the modern era, however, people primarily get tattoos of things that hold a special meaning to them. For Ryan Blaney, there are three such special things.

What is the meaning of Ryan Blaney’s right leg tattoo?

“May the force be with you!” This is Obi-Wan Kenobi’s iconic dialogue from the Star Wars franchise. And Ryan Blaney may be harnessing his force from this line since his passion sprang for the series as a child. He confessed about how it all started in a 2021 interview with The Athletic: “I was young. The first “Star Wars” movie I ever saw was “Episode I” and it came out in ’99, so I was 6, 7 years old. My family wasn’t a fan of any of that; my uncle, my mom’s brother, was a big “Star Wars” fan, and he kind of got me more into it. I remember I saw “Phantom Menace” as a kid — I had Mom take me to the movie theater to go see it — and I was like, ‘This is amazing. This is crazy.'”

That is why Ryan Blaney decided to do the ultimate thing – get a gigantic tattoo of Darth Vader on his right thigh. Although his wife, Gianna Tulio, had massive inhibitions about his craze for Star Wars, she respected his tattoo, as she had her own tattoos. Blaney reflected on that: “She didn’t mind it. Tattoos are things that personally have some meaning to you; my girlfriend has tattoos that mean something to her, and so she understood mine and what they mean to me.” 

He also has another notable piece commemorating Darth Vader. Ryan Blaney said, “One of my favorite things I got is a 2-foot-tall stuffed Darth Vader, and he’s holding a big candy cane. I like to put that one out for Christmas, like right next to the tree, because I think it’s funny. I don’t even know where I got it, but I saw it and thought this would be a great little Christmas decoration.” From spending his 2023 Cup Series championship earnings on Star Wars memorabilia to dressing up as Princess Leia at a Halloween party, Blaney’s fandom knows no bounds.

Other tattoos on Ryan Blaney’s body

Well, Ryan Blaney’s passion for tattoos does not stop at Star Wars. It runs deep enough to touch his familial roots. Long before Blaney was born, his grandfather was a legendary motorsports figure. Lou Blaney won over 600 feature races in the world of short track racing. First competing in a Sprint car, he won eight track championships at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., where he won a combined 118 Sprint car and Modified wins. The Lou Blaney memorial celebrates this legend’s five-decade career. And Ryan Blaney celebrates in his own way.

Underneath Ryan Blaney’s fire suit, on his chest, you’ll find a tattoo of the number 10, driven by the late Lou Blaney. He got it sometime around 2013, and it was his very first piece. He reflected on its history: “I got the number 10, my grandpa’s old number. It was something for my grandfather, who had passed away a handful of years before I got it. It’s there on my chest to look at every morning.” Blaney grew up racing as the number 10, just like his grandfather, before becoming famous in the No. 12.

When the Number 10 was not enough, Ryan Blaney got another artwork dedicated to his grandfather. That was an intricate artwork of his grandfather’s 1970 Sprint car, tattooed along his ribs — a daily reminder of his family legacy.

Ryan Blaney may have a lot of things driving his Cup Series success. But the daily reminder he gets from his passion and family legacy by looking in the mirror may be the strongest.