William Byron and Ryan Blaney Hold No Grudges for Aggressive Manoeuvre on the Track

For a long time during the Cup Series race at Martinsville on Sunday, it seemed like Ryan Blaney would win and secure a Championship 4 spot. He had taken the lead following a restart on Lap 272 and maintained it for 177 laps. But William Byron wasn’t going to let him off that easily.

On Lap 457, with 43 laps remaining in the race, Byron, who looked dominant on the day, took the bottom lane entering Turn 1 and shoved Blaney up the track by making contact with his car’s left rear. He took the lead in this manner and kept it through a restart with 11 laps remaining. Tempers might have flared if this sequence had gone down on another day.

However, both drivers had a Championship 4 spot on the line, and understood that such extreme moves were warranted under such pressure. Byron told the press that he hated having to make such a move. He added, “I hate that we made contact. I think he was probably leaving just enough space, as well. I was going into the corner committed. That’s kind of fighting for space.”

“Yeah, it’s hard racing. We both want to make the Championship 4. It’s a race win. It’s no ill will. It’s just kind of hard racing, racing for the win.” Thanks to the move, the Hendrick Motorsports driver was able to beat Blaney to the checkered flag by 0.717 seconds. Starting the race from pole position, he had led 304 of the 500 laps in the race in the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro.

Blaney’s thoughts on the aggressive move

The No. 12 Team Penske driver had every reason to spiral out after being shoved out of the lead. His one final shot to make it to the Championship 4 had been foiled, and so were his dreams of becoming a two-time Cup Series champion. But he remained calm despite the gravity of the moment to express strong empathy towards Byron.

He said, “I was trying to protect. Yeah, I mean, that’s just two guys going for it. I don’t blame him for taking that. I have kind of lost momentum. I would have done the same thing, to be honest with you. I knew it was going to be tight. I tried to crowd as much as I could.” T

he fact that Blaney couldn’t make it to the season finale at Phoenix is seen as a blessing by the other drivers.

Had he competed, he would have been the clear favorite to win the championship. But now, there is no clear favorite among Byron, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, and Denny Hamlin. This level playing field is bound to make for an interesting spectacle.