NASCAR Champion Ryan Blaney Engaged to Longtime Girlfriend Gianna Tulio
Ryan Blaney's engagement comes shortly after winning the Cup Series championship.
Ryan Blaney is having a year to remember. The 29-year-old NASCAR star went to social media to announce he is engaged to his longtime girlfriend Gianna Tulio. The couple shared the news in a joint Instagram post, revealing that Blaney popped the question on Dec. 12, which is fitting since he drives the No. 12 car for Team Penske.
"I said yes to my forever," Tulio wrote in the Instagram post. The engagement comes one month after Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series championship for the 2023 season. When Blaney won the title, Tulio went to Instagram and wrote: "I never had any doubts in you and never will. You made history and I'm so honored I was able to be there for you [and] watch you fight for it."
Blaney won the championship after finishing in the top 10 in the standings for the last six years. During the 2023 season, Blaney won three races, including the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, which was a turning point for him. "It was big for me after getting out of that slump after not winning for a little bit. It was definitely good," Blaney said during a press conference in November.
"I got asked earlier about this. I think the big shot in the arm was winning Talladega in the Playoffs. Our team, we struggled through the summer months after the 600. We worked really hard to get better and better. Our team was like teetering on needing a little something good to happen, then we're going to be full-on dangerous. We won Talladega and it was like green light, let's go, we're really in a good mood here. I think that's what kind of set the rest of our Playoffs off to where they are now. I think both of those wins were huge, but I personally think Talladega was a big shot in the arm right in the middle of the Playoffs that really got us going."
Blaney also talked about winning the title for the family legacy. "It's fantastic," he said. "I mean, just coming from a racing family in general, right? Grandfather, Lou, winning a bunch of championships in the Northeast. Dad being the Outlaw champion. Dale winning of the All-Star championship. Now for me to kind of add some asphalt into there is pretty good because that's what I grew up doing. Just special."