The race at Texas would be one to remember for ages to come as a driver broke his winless streak on the one hand, and on the other, the race was filled with incidents across the field. One such incident was between Ryan Blaney and Ryan Preece , which ended up being consequential for the former. The reigning champion reckons he deserved to be put into the wall by his rival after an altercation on track.
The incident took place on lap 182 when Ryan Preece seemed to have run out Ryan Blaney while racing. However, this is only one side of the story, as the Penske driver revealed that a lap earlier, he rode behind Preece and was on his tail. He was trying to make a move under him on the inside line but unintentionally pushed the SHR driver near the fringes of the wall.
In my mind, I deserved to get used up for sure for what I did. I was guilty as charged but I don’t know if I deserved to get junked for what I did, but it’s just one of those racing things. I know why he was upset, I used up a bunch of track, he was mad, and he decided to retaliate. Ryan Blaney said in an interview with Bob Pockrass
The move on lap 181 had lasting repercussions for the No.12 Ford Mustang driver on the next lap. Blaney claimed that Preece wanted to retaliate, and he did so by slashing across him and ramming him into the wall. This deemed it necessary for the 30-year-old to come into the pits for necessary repairs and eventually finished his race in 33rd, eight laps behind the leader.
Ryan Blaney claims Ryan Preece did not have to wreck him to take his revenge
Before his clash with Preece, the No.12 driver was lighting the fire on the track, quite literally. However, the reigning champion, despite feeling he deserved to have faced some consequences, reckoned that it was a bit too much to be put in the wall by his competitor.
Like I said, he had every right to retaliate I’m just, like man, you didn’t have to wreck me, you can move me out of the way just don’t wreck me. It’s just one of those things, move on from it. Ryan Blaney said
The 30-year-old claimed the SHR driver was right to retaliate against his sketchy manoeuvres. However, he deemed Preece’s revenge to be a bit too much and instead would have settled for a similar move that he made on him.
Despite the clash, Blaney wants both of them to move on from the incident. Moreover, both drivers would be looking on to the next race in Talladega and hope to not collect each other yet again.
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