{"id":151538,"date":"2025-09-18T00:35:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T00:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/151538\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T00:35:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T00:35:12","slug":"nascar-superstar-ryan-blaney-left-stunned-as-nephew-hijacks-his-radio-mid-race-at-bristol-he-figured-it-out-smart-kid-international-sports-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/151538\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Superstar Ryan Blaney Left Stunned as Nephew Hijacks His Radio Mid-Race at Bristol: “He Figured It Out! Smart Kid” | International Sports News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NASCARRyan Blaney (Image via USA Today Sports) During the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 13, Ryan Blaney experienced a moment unlike any other in his career. With 187 laps remaining, the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang suddenly heard a voice that wasn\u2019t from his crew or spotter. Instead, it was his four-year-old nephew Bodhi.\u201cHi, Uncle Ryan,\u201d Bodhi said over the scanner in a clip that has since gone viral online. He added a message of encouragement: \u201cWin this race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan Blaney Turns to His Wife to Intervene<\/p>\n

The unexpected radio interruption left Ryan Blaney laughing inside his car, though he quickly called on his wife, Gianna Blaney, to help fix the situation. \u201cGet Bodhi off the scanner,\u201d Blaney joked while racing.According to Blaney, Bodhi had discovered Gianna\u2019s scanner in their bus before the race and figured out how to activate it. \u201cHe found Gianna\u2019s scanner in the bus and found out how to turn it on. Pretty smart,\u201d Blaney admitted.Ryan Blaney\u2019s spotter, Tim Fedewa, also found the moment entertaining, calling the playful interruption \u201cpretty awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

How Bodhi Figured Out the Button<\/p>\n

After the race, where Blaney ultimately finished fourth, he explained exactly how his nephew managed to break through on the line. He recalled that his nephews, ages 4 and 6, were at the race earlier and had been inside the bus where Gianna\u2019s radio was located.\u201cShe has a radio in the bus where she can listen,\u201d Blaney explained in a NASCAR video. \u201cNeither of us knew that the button worked. I thought it was an obsolete button\u2026 but apparently it does!\u201dRyan Blaney remembered discussing the button with Bodhi before the race. When the boy asked what it did, Blaney explained it allowed Gianna to listen to his race communications. Bodhi then compared it to a walkie-talkie. \u201cI was like, \u2018Yeah, kind of like a walkie-talkie!\u2019\u201d Blaney recalled.That comparison stuck with the young fan. When race time came, Bodhi pressed the button and delivered his message. \u201cHe figured it out, turned it on, pushed the button, gave me a little bit of motivation, and that was pretty cool,\u201d Blaney said proudly.<\/p>\n

Perfect Timing Amid a Stretch of Cautions<\/p>\n

The timing of the surprise call worked out in Blaney\u2019s favor, coming during a caution period. \u201cThere was a point in the race where there were a lot of cautions after cautions,\u201d Ryan Blaney said. \u201cSo that was a nice moment of levity and just a little break.\u201dBlaney also noted he immediately recognized the voice as one of his nephews, and based on the earlier button conversation, he was confident it was Bodhi.<\/p>\n

Blaney\u2019s Takeaway from the Memorable Moment<\/p>\n

Looking back, Blaney said the incident highlighted his nephew\u2019s smarts. \u201cSmart kid,\u201d he said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t know how to do that at four years old, but he figured it out!\u201dAt the same time, the Cup Series champion acknowledged the family may need to make some changes to avoid accidental interruptions in the future. \u201cWe have to get that button worked on so no one pushes it on accident,\u201d Blaney remarked.Despite the unexpected radio hijack, Blaney managed to finish fourth in the race. Christopher Bell ultimately claimed the win at Bristol.<\/p>\n

Ryan Blaney Balances Racing Career and Family Life<\/p>\n

Blaney, who is in his 10th full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series and his eighth with team owner Roger Penske, has experienced many on-track challenges. But the moment at Bristol proved that even in the middle of competition, family can unexpectedly step in.Also read: Alabama Teen Shark Attack Survivor Lulu Gribbin Feels \u2018Grateful\u2019 and Hopes to Compete in the Paralympics After Losing Limbs<\/a>Uncle duty, as Blaney learned, never really takes a break – even at 180 miles per hour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Blaney (Image via USA Today Sports) During the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[80213,29779,49,48,852,634,8354,15224,82],"class_list":["post-151538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-bodhi","tag-bristol-motor-speedway","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-family","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-cup-series","tag-ryan-blaney","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}