NASCAR Driver Ryan Blaney to Guest Star on NBC's TAKEN

NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney will guest star in the upcoming season of NBC's TAKEN (premiering Jan. 12). The episode, titled "Imperium," will air in 2018 and will feature Blaney as a Special Agent with a very particular set of driving skills. When a dangerous weapons dealer smuggles his wares into New York City, Bryan Mills (Clive Standen) teams up with the FBI in a race to stop him before he reaches the safety of international waters.

At just 23-years old, third generation racer and son of veteran NASCAR driver Dave Blaney, Ryan Blaney is a key pillar of NASCAR's youth movement. Full of enthusiasm and passion, Ryan drove his second full Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season this past year through an alliance between Team Penske and the Wood Brothers.

In 2018, Ryan will be behind the wheel of Team Penske's No. 12 Ford for his third season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and will also be running a limited NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) schedule for the seventh season. In 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season, the Wood Brothers and Ryan scored a win at Pocono Raceway, poles at Kansas Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, and led over 300 laps en route to a nine-race playoff run and a ninth-place finish overall in the final driver points standings. In 2017 NXS competition, Ryan was victorious in Charlotte and Dover, managed a remarkable 12 top-five finishes in 13 starts, and helped Team Penske secure its fourth NXS Owners' Championship.

Earlier in his career Ryan competed for Brad Keselowski Racing in the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES where he won multiple races between 2012 and 2015. With wins in each of NASCAR's three major touring series, Ryan is part of an elite group of drivers to hold that distinction. With a strong pedigree in racing, it was clear from an early age that Ryan had a bright career ahead of him on the track. He started his racing career in quarter midgets and won his first race at age nine. He has competed in and has been successful in Bandolero cars, Legend cars, late-model stock cars, and the ARCA RACING SERIES before making his debut in NASCAR's K&N Pro Series West.

Blaney has previously acted and appeared in several movies and television shows including Logan Lucky, Cars 3 and American Ninja Warrior.

From executive producer Luc Besson ("Taken," "The Fifth Element"), "Taken" is a modern-day, edge-of-your-seat thriller that follows a young but deadly Bryan Mills (Clive Standen, "Vikings"), former CIA spy Christina Hart (Jennifer Beals, "The L Word," "The Last Tycoon") and a team of covert operatives as they embark on rescue missions around the world - a job that employs Bryan's very particular, and very dangerous, set of skills. In 30 years, this character is destined to become the Bryan Mills that we've come to love from the "Taken" films. Also starring Adam Goldberg ("Fargo") and Jessica Camacho ("The Flash"). Executive produced by Besson, Greg Plageman and Matthew Gross.

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