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Lou Blaney, a father, friend and a heck of a driver.

Lou began his career in 1958 at the legendary Greater Pittsburgh Speedway in Clinton Pennsylvania. Driving the old coupes, super modifieds and sprints, little did his father know is that he would become an instant success. The young driver was part of the three car team of Gib Orr, Dale Johnson and Blaney, known at the time as the “three white mice”. The team won a great deal of the races running against drivers like Dave Lundy, Bobby Adamson, Mac Clingan, Dean Mast, and Gus Linder.

He moved to the Modifieds in 1978. His first Modified was acquired by long time car owner Bill Thomas from legendary modified stock car driver and builder Dick Tobias of Lebanon. Blaney was a winner right out of the box aboard the car. He continued to drive Modifieds and Super Sprints until 1981, when his son and current NASCAR Nextel Cup star, Dave Blaney, started driving the sprint car.

His success in the modifieds is legendary but his best years were behind the wheel of his famous number 10 sprint car. The track championships are too numerous to mention, but the career highlight came in 1973. Driving for the Crash Brothers, Lou was running a three track circuit. Friday night was Lernerville, Saturday night Jennerstown, and Sunday night was Tri-City Speedway. Winning a point race on the last night of the season is thrilling enough, but Lou and Ted Wise were locked up in a last night battle at all three tracks, which sounds like a fantasy but true. And even more unbelievable, Lou Blaney managed to win all three track championships on that last night at each speedway.

Blaney is well-known for his Super Sprint exploits. He recorded over 200 Super Sprint wins from 1961 to 1980. In 1966 driving for Bill Thomas; Lou won the Williams Grove National Open, which at that time was the premier race for sprint cars in the entire country. He placed third to eventual two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Gordon Johncock in the 1963 inaugural event. Three years later, Blaney won the National Open. It is probably the most cherished of his many victories.

In 1981, when he started driving the DIRT Modified full-time, Blaney finished second to Merv Treichler in the Schaefer International 200 for his best career finish in the world’s richest dirt track modified stock car race. Unexpectedly, Blaney’s red and white No. 10 ended up on the front cover of Stock Car Racing Magazine that winter, which earned him more notoriety.

Lou was a good athlete even before he started racing, as he was a standout basketball player at Hartford High School scoring 1200 points over his four year high school career. It was probably just a coincidence that Lou’s basketball uniform was number 10.

Late Model car owner Jook George, one night at Expo Speedway, convinced Lou to drive his late model #10. Jook chose the number because Blaney was his hero. It was the only time Blaney was ever in a late model.

Lou’s sons, Dale and Dave, have also had their share of sports headlines. Dale was a star basketball player at West Virginia University and got a tryout with the pros. Dale has developed into one of the premier sprint car drivers on the East Coast. Dave needs no introduction to racing fans, was a star in his own right in the World of Outlaw sprint circuit as well as his current deal with NASCAR Sprint Cup and the Nationwide Series.

Dave finished second at Syracuse, first in the sprint car segment, and repeated in the big modified show in 1989. It’s not very often a father and son will take two of the first five places in the biggest modified show in the country.

Lou Blaney was one of the few big winners that the fans have continued to cheer over the years. Big winners usually have had their share of boos from the crowd, which goes with long term success. Lou was always a quiet, reserved person who won his races with his head and right foot, and not with his mouth.

There have been many great drivers in the Tri State area, but it’s hard to say that any of them are any better than Lou Blaney. His rim riding style was smooth as it was in 1958. And his personality and sportsmanship have never been questioned.

Lou Blaney was inducted into the DIRT Motorsports Hall of Fame in Weedsport, N.Y. He was the first driver to be elected to the Hall of Fame from this region. Blaney’s victory list in the DIRT Modifieds is virtually untouchable. Lou was inducted into the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Hall of Fame in 1997 along with Jack Freeman, Jean Lynch, and Mike Klapak.

He has victories at Sharon, Lernerville, Mercer, Raceway 7, Tri-City, Expo, Sportsman, Pittsburgh, and Hagerstown Speedway. Lou along with his sons Dave and Dale have ten titles and Lou is second all-time with 118 wins at Lernerville Speedway. Lou’s legendary career has topped over 600 victories since his start in racing, a feat that many could wish to live up to. I had a chance to meet Lou for the first time back in 1995 at Sharon Speedway. He was very laid back, full of wisdom when it came to working on cars and was always there to help you out with anything that you needed.

In the 2002 Season, the Blaney family, along with the help of 2 private investors bought the Sharon Speedway. Over the years since then, the track has had a major face lift. Switching from a wide half mile to a very fast 3/8 mile track and additional grandstands were added to the back stretch.

In the end of the 2003 season, Lou opted to hang up the helmet and enjoy life. Though he left his driving duties behind, he could still be found at the track working whether it be in the water truck or in the office. In January, while checking on some racing results and news on a few of the local sites from back home, I came across a thread on a message board that made my heart drop. Lou Blaney, age 69 had passed away. What more could be said, a man that was looked up to by many old and young alike is gone, but not forgotten. A special thanks to all who brought out there memories of Lou, including Don Gamble and Walt Wimer.