HARTFORD, Ohio — Ryan Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, has joined his father Dave as one of the three ownership partners of Ohio’s Sharon Speedway.
As the three-eighths-mile dirt track gears up for its May 10 season opener, Dave Blaney remains as an owner partner, but will now be joined by his son, Ryan, and area businessman and racer Will Thomas III. Dave Willoughby will remain as general manager for what will be his 16th year in that role.
In 2002, Dave Blaney along with area businessmen Jim Weller, Sr. of Liberty Steel Industries and Bill and Ron Kirila of Kirila Contractors, purchased Sharon Speedway.
Extensive renovations and upgrades were made to the facility and the track was shortened to its current y configuration. The track was successfully operated by the trio for the next 23 years. Bill Kirila passed away in 2006. This year on January 17, Weller, Sr. passed away at the age of 94, and most recently, Ron Kirila died on April 24 at the age of 86.
Dave Blaney will be beginning his 24th year of ownership at Sharon – a track that he grew up racing at and with which he shares his hometown of Hartford, Ohio.
The 62-year-old is a former champion of the World of Outlaws and USAC and was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2014. Blaney owns 95 WoO wins and 48 with the All Star Circuit of Champions. He’s won the Knoxville Nationals, Kings Royal, and the Chili Bowl Nationals.
At Sharon alone, Blaney has 40 career wins including 38 in a “410” Sprint Car and two in a Big-Block Modified. Blaney has also competed in nearly 600 NASCAR events between Cup, Xfinity, and Trucks with 62 top 10 finishes and nine pole positions.
Ryan Blaney, the grandson of the late Lou Blaney, who has at least 121 Modified wins and another 11 documented in a sprint car at Sharon alone, will join his father as a partner in his foray into promoting and track ownership.
The 31-year-old, who is the youngest of the storied Blaney family of racers, was the 2023 NASCAR Cup Champion and runner-up in the championship in 2024. After a successful late model career on asphalt, Blaney took his talents to ARCA in 2011 and eventually into NASCAR’s top three Series. Blaney owns 13 career Cup wins, seven in the Xfinity Series, and another three in the Truck Series.
Rounding out the new ownership team at Sharon is Will Thomas III of nearby Sharpsville, Pa. The 49-year-old is the owner of Colonial Metal Products and Colonial Slitting Industries.
Thomas is the son of the late Bill Thomas, who successfully owned both sprint cars and modifieds driven by Lou Blaney. Thomas has been a well accomplished racer throughout his career beginning on asphalt and then transitioning to dirt in 2011.
