While last season is well behind us, we might have a continued rivalry between Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain on the track. The two drivers battled hard in the NASCAR season finale at Phoenix in 2023.
Ross Chastain finished P4 today after starting at the rear for a prerace adjustment and amid pit road issues. Ryan Blaney went on to finish one spot ahead in P3, and he wasn’t going to let Chastain get around him at the end of this one.
After the race, Chastain talked about racing Blaney. The 2023 champion was upset at Phoenix last year when Chastain threw multiple blocks on him to claim the race win and rain a bit on Blaney’s championship.
Well, it turns out, Blaney knows how to throw air blocks too!
“I knew our balance was going to play into putting two tires on and it did,” Chastain said after the race via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “The 5 [Larson] and I had a few side drafts and knew when we couldn’t get to the lead that we had to play defense and I really just ran as fast as I could there at the end. It was pretty cool to see Blaney blocking me at the end pretty cool to see his evolution with the air blocking. I was proud of him.”