The Racing Report is a five-part photo essay shot at short tracks in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania that will run in Farm and Dairy through the summer. The third installation follows Dale Blaney at Sharon Speedway.
The pits at Sharon Speedway in Hartford Township, Ohio, are buzzing after sprint car drivers returned from hot laps for the 16th annual Lou Blaney Memorial race. Drivers give feedback about handling to their crews, who work quickly to find ways to shave a few tenths of a second off each lap.
One stall is noticeably different; a crowd is gathered around the red number 10 car of Dale Blaney. The mood is relaxed and loose as old friends, former competitors and fans gather to reminisce with the 62-year-old driver in a black fire suit. It feels like a homecoming.
This car stands out from the others too — the frame leans dramatically to the left; the cockpit sits about six inches higher than the others to accommodate the 6-foot-4-inch frame of the former Los Angeles Laker guard turned sprint car racer. The top wing is hiked far to the right, and the car takes an aggressive skew as it enters the corners. The car is the creation of Sharon Speedway’s owner and Dale’s older brother, Dave Blaney.
While Dale holds court, Dave and their two-man crew prepare the car for the heat race. The elder Blaney is taciturn and focused on tending to this experimental machine that made its debut last season. In it, Dale romped to a win at Sharon, becoming the oldest World of Outlaws winner at the age of 61.
Describing that win against the cream of the crop of sprint car racing “was like hitting a hole in one from 212 yards out — you don’t have that very often.”
In 15 races with the car, the brothers have netted a few more wins at Sharon and Lernerville, along with some disappointing performances. “We’re still learning from it; It’s a different animal. But it goes around Sharon Speedway really well.”
This is by design; the car was built to suit Dale’s driving style and to be fast on Sharon’s notoriously dry and slick red-clay surface. “We run here the most,” Dale said. “So of course we built a car to be advantageous here.”
Is this an unfair advantage? Dale bristles at the question. Does he have an advantage? Certainly. “I’ve raced there a lot in my life. I’m from Hartford” he continued. “I got an advantage because I got a really good car, and I’m a decent driver.”
Crew member Rod Messersmith, of Hubbard, Ohio, has been with the Blaney family for decades. “Those are two of the most competitive guys I’ve ever known,” he said.
Racing is in their blood — their father Lou Blaney raced sprint cars and modifieds for 47 years, racking up 600 wins and track championships at Sharon and Lernerville. Dave is a World of Outlaws champion who spent 17 years in the NASCAR Cup Series. Dave’s son, Ryan, is an active NASCAR driver and the 2023 Cup Series Champion.
The brothers raced go-karts as kids, but Dale gravitated toward basketball, and Dave continued racing. Dale had a stellar collegiate career, helping take West Virginia University to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances. Eventually, the Los Angeles Lakers drafted him in the fourth round of the 1986 NBA draft.
But for Dale, it wasn’t right. “Every day I was thinking about racing a car,” Dale recalled, of that time. “Basketball was still number one at that point, but, man, I was dying to race.” His heart wasn’t in it, and he had a clear sense that he needed to go back home and race sprint cars.
The pull back to Ohio was accelerated by what he now recognizes as undiagnosed anxiety and ADHD. “Did I have a little bit of anxiety issues that led me back to where I was comfortable? Yeah, maybe, looking back at it.”
And so, Dale Blaney left the Lakers at possibly the best time to play for the Lakers so he could return home and drive sprint cars. It should be noted that he hadn’t raced anything more powerful than a go-kart prior to that. But he watched as his brother and other kids he raced against in karts had success in sprint cars, and he knew he could beat them if he had an opportunity.
“I knew I could. I knew I could do it,” Dale said.
His leap of faith worked out, and he landed a ride in a car owned by Denny Stockdale in 1990. He won two races in his rookie year, and he would win the National Sprint Car Poll’s Rookie of the Year award. In the years since, Blaney won six All Star Circuit of Champions titles, 11 World of Outlaws races, and he won perhaps the most prestigious sprint car race in the world, the King’s Royal at Eldora Speedway in 2000.
At the end of his career, things have slowed down. The brothers have been running a limited schedule for the past few years. They’re racing mostly for fun. But the competitive instinct is strong, and the two seem to play to one another’s strengths. After all, a fast race car needs a skilled hand at the wheel and vice versa.
But beyond that, Dale says that it’s his brother’s belief in him that fuels him: “It seemed like I always ran better when he was there.”
At their father’s memorial race that certainly held true: Blaney qualified 5th and worked his way up to second, trailing Bryce Lucious, of Findlay, Ohio, who looked hard to beat. He struggled with grip in the corners, and he struggled to work through lapped traffic. In spite of that, he was able to stay close enough to pounce when Lucious brushed the wall in turn 2.
“If he didn’t do that, it would have been pretty tough to get by him,” Blaney conceded.
A lot of things have to go right in order to win a race. Simply having a fast car is never enough. It takes a skilled and experienced driver, thorough preparation and a good race plan. Even then, a small error can derail the whole thing; just ask Bryce Lucious. The ghost in the machine is qualities like patience, perseverance and determination.
The dust that has been hanging in the air settles back to the ground. Back in the pits, the celebration continues. The number 10 car waits to be rolled back into the hauler while Dale poses for selfies and reminisces with fans and friends.
Life could have gone differently had he stayed in the NBA. “It probably wasn’t the best business decision to leave LA,” Blaney admitted, but he added, “It’s something that I’ve never regretted in my life.”
