NASCAR Cup Series drivers Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace seem to be closer than ever. While it is common knowledge that the drivers regularly spend time together and are friends off the track, their partners were recently pictured spending time outside the racing circles.
Blaney, who won the NASCAR Cup Series champion title this year, recently announced his proposal to longtime girlfriend Gianna Tulio, following in his friend Bubba Wallace's footsteps who is already married.
In a recent post on Instagram, Wallace's wife Amanda Wallace and Blaney's fiance Gianna Tulio were seen spending the holiday season together along with a larger group. The group was seen shooting bottles and spending time outdoors as part of a Christmas Eve tradition.
The post was captioned:
"I love this Christmas Eve tradition & these people so much!"
Ryan Blaney not only surprised fans recently by announcing his new fiance but by also predicting more than a decade earlier who he would propose to. The 2023 Cup Series champion tweeted about proposing to a Hooters waitress in 2011, which is eerily similar to his proposal this year. Gianna Tulio happens to be a model and brand representative of Hooters.
Blaney had posted on X (formerly Twitter):
"I would marry the waitress I just had at hooters..."
Ryan Blaney expresses faint interest in running the Indy 500
Just like Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson is planning on doing next year, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney has also dropped faint hints at running the Memorial Day double in the future.
With the Coca-Cola 600 and Indy 500 both taking place on the same day, "The Double" has long been regarded as a feat few drivers can pull off. With Roger Penske practically owning the NTT IndyCar Series, Blaney expressed his desire to run the famed race sometime in the future to Forbes.com:
“Honestly, it’s something I’ve bounced around in my mind for a couple of years, something I feel like if you could do the double, that’s cool. Larson’s doing it next year. That’s going to be great. Yeah, I’ve poked around that idea with Roger Penske for a couple of years now, and I might have to bring it back up. So we’ll see where that goes.”
It remains to be seen if a double attempt for Ryan Blaney is on the cards anytime soon. For now, team owner Roger Penske seems to have other achievements on his mind rather than the elusive double for Blaney.