Ryan Blaney kicked off the season with the aspiration of defending his first-ever championship, but unfortunately, he has been unable to secure a victory thus far.
The competition at Texas will be etched in the memories of fans for years to come. On one hand, a driver put an end to his winless streak, while on the other hand, the race was riddled with incidents throughout the field. One particular incident involved two drivers, Ryan Preece and Ryan Blaney, which had significant consequences for the latter. The reigning champion believes that his adversary deliberately crashed him into the wall after a disagreement on the track.
The incident occurred on lap 182 when Ryan Preece appeared to have forced Ryan Blaney off the track during the race. However, this is only one side of the story. Blaney, a driver for Penske, revealed that a lap earlier, he was trailing behind Preece and attempted to make a move on the inside line. Unfortunately, he unintentionally pushed the SHR driver too close to the wall.
Ryan Blaney admitted that he had made contact with Ryan Preece on the previous lap, so he understood why Preece retaliated by crashing into him. Blaney stated, “I was at fault, but I’m not sure if I deserved to be wrecked for my actions. It’s just one of those things that happen in racing.”
The maneuver on lap 181 had significant consequences for the driver of the No.12 Ford Mustang in the following lap. Blaney claimed that Preece wanted to get back at him, resulting in Preece swerving across his path and slamming him into the wall. As a result, Blaney had to make a pit stop for necessary repairs and ultimately finished the race in 33rd place, eight laps behind the leader.
Prior to his clash with Preece, the No.12 driver was setting the track ablaze, both figuratively and literally. Despite acknowledging that he deserved some form of repercussion, the reigning champion believed that being crashed into the wall by his competitor was a bit excessive.
The 30-year-old driver acknowledged that Preece was justified in retaliating against his questionable maneuvers. However, he felt that Preece’s revenge went a little too far and would have preferred a similar move in return.
Despite the altercation, Blaney hopes that both drivers can move on from the incident. Additionally, they are both looking forward to the next race in Talladega and hoping to avoid colliding with each other once again.