LUKE MEREDITH
AP Sports Writer
NASCAR trucks series points leader Ryan Blaney will run a partial Sprint Cup schedule for Wood Brothers Racing in 2015.
Wood Brothers announced Thursday that Blaney, who has been a Team Penske developmental driver since 2012, will run at least 12 races next season in the No. 21 car.
The 20-year-old Blaney will replace Trevor Bayne, who is moving to a full-time ride with Roush-Fenway Racing next season.
“Ryan is a third-generation racer and one of the best young drivers out there. He has been a winner in many different kinds of cars since he started racing at a very young age and we fully expect that to continue while he is with us,” said Eddie and Len Wood, co-owners of Wood Brothers Racing, in a statement.
Blaney will make his debut for Wood Brothers at next year’s Daytona 500, though he’ll qualify the No. 21 car for Bayne at Michigan this weekend while Bayne runs a Nationwide race at Mid-Ohio.
Blaney’s 2015 Sprint Cup schedule will include stops at Daytona, Las Vegas, Texas, Talladega, Charlotte, Michigan and Indianapolis.
Blaney won his first trucks race in Iowa in 2012 when he was just 18. He broke through in Nationwide with a win at Kentucky in 2013 and made his Sprint Cup debut at Kansas earlier this season, finishing 27th.
Blaney has seven top-5 finishes in 11 truck starts in 2014.
The Wood Brothers are one of the most storied teams in all of NASCAR, having won at least one race in each of the last seven decades — including Bayne’s stunning victory at the Daytona 500 in 2011.
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