On Lap 182 of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas, Ryan Preece put a hit on Ryan Blaney that sent the 12 car into the wall. At first, it looked like the 41 just ran over Blaney. However, there is more to it than that.
What fans didn’t see on the TV broadcast was Ryan Blaney using up Ryan Preece on Lap 181. Blaney tried to run Preece up the track to get under him and make a pass. Well, he used up a bit too much of the track.
Blaney spoke to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports about the retaliation, and why it was deserved in a way.
“Yeah TV didn’t show, I used him up pretty good in three and four, kinda ran him up the race track,” Blaney explained. “I ran him up more than I was planning on, I was planning on kinda taking some space and I kinda ran him up more than I thought, kinda got him out of the groove. He was rightfully upset with that and I would have been too. He got to me a lap later and got into me pretty good.
“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. 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 doesn’t want Preece situation overblown
Driver beef can happen at random. Sometimes it’s a huge wreck that causes it, and other times it is a number of small issues that pile up until a boiling point is reached. This Ryan Blaney, Ryan Preece thing isn’t that at all.
What this is, is a clear case of quick retaliation. Drivers policing drivers. Did it go a bit too far? Yeah. Did Blaney have to be put into the wall? No, not really. But things happen in racing. When you use someone up, you can get wrecked.
Ryan Blaney just wants the record straight – he deserved to get the bumper put to him.
“No I mean, he had every right to get back at me,” Blaney explained. “What I did was I run him up the race track pretty bad and like I said I didn’t blame him for wanting to move me out of the way. How hard he hit me was a little excessive maybe because he caused me to wreck but I deserved to get moved in some way for what I did. TV didn’t show that I used him up first. So, it wasn’t just he just run me over, right? I used up him pretty big the lap before so I don’t want it to get skewed to where, oh Preece just wrecked me, no it was deserving for him to lay the bumper for after what I did.”
This shouldn’t be an issue this week at Talladega. For starters, retaliation on a superspeedway is dangerous and can lead to massive wrecks and injuries. So, we likely wouldn’t see anything out of this if it was a bigger issue. This isn’t an issue in the first place. So, don’t expect much more out of this whole ordeal.
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