NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney has “locked in” his wedding venue with his fiancée Gianna Tulio

Defending NASCAR Cup champion Ryan Blaney has been moving forward with his wedding planning as he prepares to tie the knot with his fiancée Gianna Tulio.

2023 was a tremendous year for the Team Penske driver. The 30-year-old, who pilots the No. 12 Ford Mustang in the Cup Series, clinched his first Cup championship, becoming the second-straight Team Penske driver to secure the title after Joey Logano.

On the personal side of things, Blaney also got down on one knee and popped the question to his girlfriend and now-fiancée, Gianna Tulio. Now, as he looks forward to defending his NASCAR crown, Blaney was queried in a recent interview with Fox Sports journalist Bob Pockrass about his strategies for wedding planning. Ryan Blaney responded:

"That was the day after [we got engaged] we were wedding planning. And we picked a venue out. We locked that in. So that was a big part of it.

"And I'm learning how much work goes into wedding planning. It's a lot. Picking the venue out was good. That took a lot of weight off our shoulders of Gianna and I's."

Blaney humorously admitted to taking a back seat and letting Gianna take the lead. He remarked:

"I try to just give her the reins on everything — just do it, like, you've got full control of this. But she wants to include me in a lot of it, which is fine. But I usually just agree with her. She's like, 'What do you think about this?" And then I'll just ask her 'Well, what do you think?" And then I'll just agree with whatever she says."

The pair started dating in July 2020 and got engaged on Dec. 12 last year.

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Ryan Blaney has "more of a voice" within the Team Penske camp after his championship victory

Despite his reserved nature, Ryan Blaney acknowledged the increased influence he holds within the Team Penske camp following his championship win. When questioned about having a more prominent voice within the team, he said (via Fox Sports):

"Yeah, maybe a little bit. I've never been one to fully always speak out. If I do, it's something really important to me."

He added:

"But I feel like the bigger voice comes from maybe more people listening and maybe you have a little bit more weight behind what you say. That's even more important to have to choose your words carefully. You just can't spout out about anything, because I feel like it's a little bit more weight with your words."

After three races, Blaney has accumulated 110 points in the NASCAR Cup Series standings this season. He's placed second in the table, eight points behind Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson.