NASCAR's Ryan Blaney raises Alzheimer's awareness for grandfather who began family's racing dynasty

Ryan Blaney is making his own name as a NASCAR driver, but carries the legacy of his grandfather with him.

The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner was inspired to start racing because it runs in his blood. Blaney is the son of veteran NASCAR and sprint car racer Dave Blaney and the grandson of modified dirt-track legend and Lou Blaney, who was diagnosed with Alzheimier's disease in 2001 and passed away in 2009.

In 2018, a few years into his NASCAR Cup career, the now-29-year-old started the Ryan Blaney Family Foundation to help families like his. He is now part of a campaign with The Alzheimer’s Association and the Ad Council calling for people to notice signs of the disease in their loved ones. Blaney was a young teenager when he lost his grandfather and knows firsthand the pain of growing up with a family member whose memory fades.

"I was starting to understand what was going on when he did pass away," he told USA TODAY Sports. "Yeah, just gosh, I wish I could remember more of our talks, you know, and being around him and things like that before he got sick."

Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that causes memory loss and interferes with cognitive function. About 6.7 million Americans have the disease, which is about one in nine people 65 years old and over, according to The Alzheimer's Association. Despite decades of research, there is still no cure.

Even though Blaney wasn't able to hear stories of Lou's racing days directly from him because of the effects of the disease, he is grateful to have learned about his grandfather's accomplishments and character from fans. Besides winning more than 200 Super Sprint races in a span of 19 years and notching 600 total victories in his career, Lou was known for his kindness and respect.

"As a grown adult, you've learned to appreciate your grandparents and your parents more, right?" the Team Penske driver said. "... For someone I didn't know very well, just because I was so young, it's really, really neat to be able to hear stories about that stuff from when he was racing and how he was like and his demeanor. It makes me laugh and smile."

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Blaney, whose grandfather, father and uncle, Dale Blaney, are all members of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, said that he gets told he's "too nice" just like his father says Lou was. Despite what some people might think is a lack of competitive age, he takes it seriously that, as a professional racecar driver, he is a role model for kids.

"He's taught me that by a lot of secondhand people," Blaney said of his grandfather. "That's how I've tried to mold myself around and I try my best to do that and try to be like him."

This weekend for the 2023 Toyota Owners 400 race at Richmond Raceway, Blaney will wear gloves that are purple, the official color of The Alzheimer's Association. They will be auctioned off by the organization once Blaney has passed the checkered flag. At least that's the plan.

"That's one of the few special things that we can kind of do and customize on a week-to-week basis," Blaney said. "... Hopefully we can win with them too. That would be good. If we do win with them, I might be selfish and keep them. I don't know they might be good luck, I might wear them every week."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR's Ryan Blaney raises Alzheimer's awareness for grandfather