NASCAR fans are no strangers to controversies and intense moments, and the recent outing of Team Penske driver, Ryan Blaney at the Nashville Superspeedway during Sunday’s Ally 400 was definitely one of those. Blaney’s race took an unfortunate turn when a chain of events led to a head-on collision with a solid concrete wall that led to a visit to the Health Center, leaving fans and colleagues concerned about driver safety.
Following the horrifying crash, the long-standing debate surrounding NASCAR’s lack of safety concern and misstep continued to heat up and Kenny Wallace, a former NASCAR driver turned commentator, shared his thoughts on the incident, offering an intriguing perspective on the matter.
Former Driver Kenny Wallace Shares Insights on the Controversial Crash
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In a recent YouTube video, Wallace addressed the crash, stating, “Let’s get to the race real quick, big controversy. Ryan Blaney says, ‘I’ll pay for the Motherf**king safe wall, he’s pissed.’ Ryan Blaney now listen, this whole race track outside inside the whole race track has got soft walls all the way around it. Wouldn’t you know it, the one little spot that does not have a soft wall, that’s where we’re going to hit.”
Wallace lamented that it was a classic case of Murphy’s Law, where the unexpected tends to occur. Adding a philosophical element to the conversation, Wallace said, “That is philosophy 101 in life. Better safe than sorry, that’s a phrase brother rusty taught it to me. Herman, better safe than sorry…You’re gonna hit where the wall is not because the racing gods, they’re gonna get you. See, it’s us against the racing gods (it’s a joke) but it’s the way you gotta do it. If it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen. If there’s a chance, it will happen.”
While it may seem like Wallace empathized with Blaney’s dilemma and tried to justify the accident, his following statement caught several people off guard when he took a jab at the critics of the sport.
He said, “Ryan Blaney hits a wall, there’s no soft wall, crowd on feet ‘there’s no soft wall there, NASCAR sucks’…Hey don’t give any fuel to the fire, you know we know that negativity sells and we love bashing people, I get that, I know that’s way more fun than talking nice however beautiful speedway, soft walls everywhere except right there. Well Herman Nation, calm down as you sit on your couch and drink beer or coffee.”
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It all began when Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing lost a wheel on the entrance to the pit road, prompting a yellow flag and causing the field to bunch up for a restart. Unfortunately, Brad Keselowski, driving the #6 Ford Mustang, failed to accelerate properly, resulting in a series of check-ups by drivers around him, including Blaney. In the chaos, Kyle Busch collided with Blaney from behind, with both of them spinning into the grass and Blaney slamming into the concrete wall, which lacked a SAFER barrier.
While Ryan Blaney may have left the situation unscathed, the same could not be said for NASCAR officials who were put under fire for what was deemed as a, “Reactive Instead of Proactive” Measure
Blaney was the first to express his frustration as he said, “I’m sure they’ll put one (SAFER Barrier) on it after this. It sucks that things like that have to happen, then you’re like ‘Oh we’ll put a SAFER barrier on it now.’ You know, why are you not doing the whole track? I’ll pay for the f**king thing to get put on there. It’s like three feet. I’m fine, just kind of pissed.”
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#NASCAR … I asked Ryan Blaney if he would talk to track officials about hitting a concrete wall instead of a SAFER barrier, he said: “I’ll pay for the F—— thing.” pic.twitter.com/Dr45CltMWV
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) June 26, 2023
The situation was further aggravated as NASCAR released a statement following the incident, which read, “NASCAR safety engineers work closely with safety experts on the implementation of barriers around the track. As we do following every race weekend, we will evaluate all available data and make any necessary improvements. ”
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While the results of NASCAR’s evaluation and subsequent actions remain to be seen, Fans are eagerly looking forward to one of the most anticipated and controversial races this season set to take place in Chicago this upcoming weekend. Who do you think will emerge victorious?