Late in the final stage of the NASCAR 4EVER 400, Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin were going at it on the track, fighting for position. The two restarted side-by-side after Kyle Larson’s wreck entered pit road. Hamlin raced Blaney hard all the way down to fourth place. Then, Hamlin found the wall himself.
After swapping positions back and forth a few times, Denny Hamlin slid ahead of Ryan Blaney. He kept sliding, too. For whatever reason, Hamlin’s steering stopped. He was going to likely race to a top-5 finish but his car plowed and went straight for the wall.
Kelly Crandall of Racer Mag was listening to the radio for the 12 team and picked up an interesting remark from Blaney.
Seeing Hamlin wreck, Blaney laughed and said “F**k you, d**khead.” Afterward, his spotter or crew chief told him “We’re going to pit. We’re going to get the lead.” Then another charged statement. “We’re going to win the son of a b****,” according to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports.
After the race, Blaney referred to Hamlin as a “hack” for not committing to passing him and just using up his tires.
Unforutnately, Ryan Blaney wasn’t able to get the win. He raced hard, but that battle with Hamlin cost him tire life and speed later on. Just as he was reeling Christopher Bell in, the 20 was able to pull away again at the end.
This ended with Bell in victory lane and Blaney wondering what happened. However, it wasn’t all bad. Blaney was 17 points to the negative entering the race. Now, he’s leaving above the cutline and has a real chance at pointing himself into Phoenix.
Only two spots are open for Phoenix. Both Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell are locked into the Championship 4.
Ryan Blaney comes up short, picks up points
Thanks to Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. biting the dust late in this race, Ryan Blaney is now in the positive as far as points are concerned. Still, he has to race well next week. Martinsville is actually a pretty solid track for Blaney.
Back in 2020, Blaney won the pole award. He also went P2 in both of those races that season. While he doesn’t have a win, he has finished in the top-10 in 9 of the last 12 races at the track. His last three races at the track, dating back to 2022, are P4, P3, and P7 this past spring.
I’ll add, Blaney finished P7 last year after starting P31. So much for not being able to pass on short tracks.
At any rate, Ryan Blaney is in a great position. He likely feels like he let this slip through his fingers. And, we could argue both sides of that if we wanted to. It won’t change his reality, though. Right now the mission has to be to win the Martinsville race and if you come up short like you did today, you still likely advance on points.